How are we different?
by Sakura Bontecou Kobayashi
Summary: Sakura Kinomoto is a High School Student; so is Syaoran Li. She is popular; so is he. She is a cardcaptor; and, well, so is he. What will happen when these two rivals meet and fall in love?
1. Introduction

1. **Introduction**

Sakura's POV-

Rain poured onto my window as I stared through the unpolished glass. It was a really hard storm and I had to be kept inside because of the cold hails that came down with the water. It was extremely annoying.

And it was sad, too, since I promised my best friend, Tomoyo, that I will meet her at the park and play all day, but our plan was ruined by some stupid rain.

Now I have to make it up to her.

I am Kinomoto Sakura, 15 years of age and I go to Tomoeda High school, I'm in my sophomore year. I have straight, long amber hair that reached all the way down to my back and a side bang that usually falls over my emerald eyes. I am quite tall for my age since I'm really healthy and I'm a natural at all kinds of sports. But that doesn't mean I'm not good at other subjects, in fact, I'm about the 5th smartest kid in my school, but not as smart as my best friend.

Daidouji Tomoyo is her whole name. She's about a year older than me and has long, wavy hair. She's not as good at sports than I am but she still aced all subjects. She's a _wonderful_ singer and her mother owns a famous toy company. Many boys fawn over her because of her beautiful dark gray hair and shining deep blue eyes. She is quite beautiful for her age. I, on the other hand, am cute...at least, that's what she says all the time.

She also likes to design outfits for me. It's like one of her hobbies. She makes me new clothes about every two weeks and it helped me since I don't have to go and shop for any clothes. She never liked shopping either.

We both are normal students at our school and lovable children at home...but one thing is special about me.

I'm a cardcaptor.

What is a cardcaptor you say? Well, cardcaptors collect cards, just like it sounds. I, on the other hand collect _magical_ cards that might effect the whole world. It might sound weird, but it's true. It was just a few months ago that I went into my father's basement and accidently opened a magical book which released all the cards from their case. Now, I have to collect all of them back with the help of the book's guardian. Kero.

Kero is a miniature sized bear with yellow fur and a long lion-like tail. From afar, he just looked like a normal stuffed animal. But when you get to know him, he is one of the most powerful thing ever to be created on earth.

With the help of Kero-chan and Yue (the other guardian of the book who is now in the body of my brother's best friend), I have already collected 38 cards in 6 months.

But...THERE'S STILL 12 CARDS LEFT!!!


	2. The meeting

2. **The meeting**

"Wake up, you monster!!!" Sakura heard someone yell at her at the foot of her bed. She jumped up suddenly, it appears that the person who was trying to wake her up succeeded his task.

"What the heck, Toya?" Sakura asked, frustrated, and looked at her clock that was right on her night-stand. "It's only 7 o'clock!"

"_Only_ 7?" Her brother asked with a bored look on his face. "Your school starts at 7:45. Look, I _may_ be in college but I still know the basic rules about _high-school_." He turned to leave the room. "Hurry up," he added, "breakfast is ready."

The door shut closed and Sakura groaned, collapsing on the bed once again with her pillow on her face. Kero, the cute little bear, floated next to her and stared at her with his dotted eyes.

"You know, Sakura, even though you're the mistress of so many powerful cards, you're still not as heroic as anyone would _think_ you would be." Sakura groaned again.

"What-ever, Kero." She mumbled to the fabric of her pillow. "I never wanted to be heroic anyways." She lifted the pillow off her face and stared at the ceiling above her, revealing the messy hair that covered half her face. She needs to get a haircut.

Sakura made a sound and sat up, stretching once before getting off her bed and fumbled through her closet for her school uniform. It was a monday and they had to wear school clothes that day. Not that Sakura didn't like it, it felt extremely comfortable on her and she even _looked_ pretty. All the boys always loved to see her skinny legs that revealed under the blue skirt. Sakura is in the cheerleading club and she was always in good shape. She inherited the same fact about her mother, she never gets fat easily, although her mother passed away a long time ago and she lives with her 20-year old brother and professor father. But her brother is only at her house because he was visiting them.

Dragging herself to the bathroom, she cleaned up and did everything a normal person would do, then she woke herself up by a few jumping-jacks, which caused some disturbance to her brother downstairs who was busy eating his breakfast.

Jogging all the way down the stairs, Sakura jumped into her chair and got ready for breakfast, while Toya was busy picking his ear. Or more like plugging his ear.

"Peh, monster." He mumbled, although Sakura heard.

"I am _not_ a monster." She argued. Although she wasn't mad since this happens everyday in the morning. "Did dad already leave?"

"He left about half an hour ago." Toya said while chewing his cereal. "He'll be back at 8."

"He's always so busy." Sakura said and ate her meal as well. Toya already finished.

"Is the fluffy toy gonna have anything to eat?" He asked and Kero wasn't too happy upstairs.

"I AM NOT A TOY!!!" He yelled and Sakura felt the ground shake. Then she heard Toya's sigh.

"I've got two monsters in my house." With that, he left the living room after setting a plate of pancakes on the table for Kero.

Sakura left her house on her rollerblades a bit after her brother, who was busy riding his bike and looking for his best friend, Yukiko. Sakura always felt weird around him since Yukiko's true form is Yue and she had to respect him for that.

After saying good-bye at the gate, Sakura met her friend waving at her with the same smile she always carried ever since she's known her. Tomoyo's gray hair looked almost blue under the sun-light and it floated along with the soft wind while Sakura's hair did the same.

"Morning," She said as Sakura skidded to a stop.

"Morning, Tomoyo. I'm on time today!"

"I bet you're happy about that." Tomoyo chuckled as they walked into the school.

Sakura always liked school because she aced all subjects and nothing's hard for her. The only thing she _doesn't _like about school was that there were many bullies there who liked to bother her because of how pretty she was. Just that day at noon, she met them again.

"Hey, sweetheart." One of the big guys said to her. "Wanna join me for lunch?"

Sakura kept walking and didn't stop when she walked passed him, which earned her a confused and angry glare.

"Hey, I'm talkin' to ya, little girl!" The boy said angrily.

Hearing that, Sakura skidded to a stop and turned to glare back at the guy. Her eyes never breaking away from his, her voice calm and patient.

"What did you just call me?" She asked in a bold voice.

The bully smirked. "What, you're afraid, little girl?"

Like a flash of lightning, Sakura ran over to the 'enemy' and punched him hard in the stomach. The boy fell over and clutched his bruise in pain. Then Sakura's long leg came down and hit him hard on the back of his neck, he yelped.

All the other boys looked at her in shock. How can such a small girl have so much power? Sakura felt eyes on her and looked at the other people with flaring eyes, they all stiffened and sweat dropped at the same time.

"What?" She asked. "You want to be beaten up, too?" With that, the rest of the bullies turned and ran away, leaving their boss on the floor, still a bit dazed.

The young girl sighed and muttered something under her breath. Then she turned away and continued walking towards Tomoyo who was waiting for her under a sakura tree in the school grounds.

"What happened?" She asked worryingly. "You look angry."

"Who wouldn't be when those stupid idiots tried to flirt with me again?" Sakura asked as she sat down next to Tomoyo. "Those jerks never learn." She added.

Tomoyo smiled at her friend and opened her lunch box to eat. Sakura did the same. They talked about their day and complained to each other about their teachers who talk to the students as if they were snails.

The semester's also ending and they can't wait until the next. Hopefully those two could be informed into the same classes.

"Oh, yeah, have you heard of the new transfer students from Hong Kong?" Tomoyo suddenly changed a subject and Sakura turned to look at her.

"Uh, the one with the brown hair and the one with the blue hair and glasses?" Sakura asked, chewing her food.

"Yes!" Tomoyo said excitedly and her eyes sparkled dreamily. "I heard that they are very hansom."

Sakura shrugged and swallowed her sushi whole, then she made a face. "Never met them. Are they in our grade?"

"Yeah, they are." She said and returned to her food. "I see them in the hallway sometimes but they don't come out often. I hear that they're in soccer and basketball team so they're busy most of the times." She paused to take another bite of her food. "I really want to meet them though."

"Why?" Sakura asked. "So you can flirt and cuddle with them all day? Tomoyo, I never thought that you were this kind of person." Tomoyo blushed.

"Never mind, Sakura..." Sakura grinned.

The bell rang and everything turned into its original order for the afternoon. Time went fast for Sakura that day and she was already standing in the hall and gathering her things from the locker, ready to go home. She turned to leave the locker when she suddenly bumped into someone.

That person was pretty tall and she could tell by his size that he was a boy. She yelped a little when she bumped her nose on his shoulder and covered it with her hand. She was just about to apologize when her emerald eyes met a pair of beautiful auburn ones. The boy looked shocked.

"Sorry," She apologized and stepped away. "I didn't see where I was going."

"No, it's fine, I'm sorry, too." He said and looked at her with concern. But Sakura was too embarrassed to look at him in the eye. "I'm Li Syaoran by the way. I don't thing we've met." He reached out a hand.

Sakura stared at the hand for a moment and saw a silver ring on his middle finger. Then she reached out to shake it. "I'm Kinomoto Sakura." She said and their hands touched. Sakura suddenly felt a shock of lighting run up her arm and shuddered a bit. They both retrieved at the same time. Sakura blushed a light pink, but not dark enough for Syaoran to see.

"Well, nice to meet you," He said and Sakura muttered a 'nice, too." back. "I've gotta go, soccer practice."

Sakura nodded and said a 'goodbye' and heard Syaoran walk away for a moment. Then she finally had the courage to look up and stare at his back.

He was a very well built boy with messy chestnut hair. He wasn't really muscular but the way his body shaped tells Sakura that he is an athlete. He was a few inches taller than Sakura but he didn't look like he was any older than 16. He wore a loose sweatshirt with a dragon on the back, his hood was covering half of it, though. His jeans were a bit worn-out and the color was fading a bit, but it didn't look bad since it was a style now.

Then Sakura wondered, _Why isn't he wearing the school uniform?_ But she just shrugged and walked away, having a hard time clearing out his auburn eyes out of her head.

Syaoran walked slowly down the hall, ignoring the fact that there were many girls staring at him with dreamy eyes, all of them sighing. It was then that Syaoran wondered. _That Kinomoto girl wasn't swooning over me like the others. _He stared at the ground. _I wonder why. And I also feel a strange aura around her. Hmm...she'll be an interesting subject. _He smirked a bit and continued walking with his head held high.


	3. Friends?

3. **Friends?**

"Sakura, I was wondering if you wanted to eat dinner with a couple of my new friends." Tomoyo asked through the phone on a Wednesday afternoon. Sakura was busy flipping through her math book and looking for her homework page.

"Who?" She asked curiously as her eyes darted from here to there, her emerald orbs shining with boredom.

"Just some new friends." She asked, sounding a bit embarrassed. "You'll see. So is that a 'yes'?"

Sakura sighed and flipped another page. Tomoyo wasn't telling her everything so that's diffidently not a good sign.

"Fine, sure." She said in surrender and also gave up finding the assignment. "But not too late, okay? Gotta finish homework, too."

"Okay then, see ya at 5 at the school gate!" Then Tomoyo hung up.

Sakura spent the next few seconds listening to the beeping of the phone and got bored so she hung up as well. Then she laid down on her back and stared at the ceiling.

_I still think about that boy._ She thought, not feeling too happy. _Why do I have a strange feeling around him?_ Her eyebrows furrowed and Kero saw it.

"What's the matter, Sakura?" He came over and asked her in concern. His dotted eyes looked worried.

"Nothing." She shook her head and sat up. "Tomoyo and I are spending the evening with a few of our friends. I'll just ask Toya to send your dinner up to my room. I'll wash the dishes when I come back." With that she walked to her closet and pulled out some clothes. This time, she chose a tank-top and a pair of loose black pants. Then she took out the gloves without the fingers and put them on, admiring the black and shininess of the fabric.

"You're dressing like a tomboy, today?" Kero asked amusingly and Sakura turned to glare at him.

"What, you got a problem with that?" Kero looked stricken and returned to the TV he was watching earlier. Sakura smiled at the mirror.

_Even though you're dressing like a tomboy, you'll still be able to attract a few boys._ Sakura giggled at that thought.

At around 4:40, she left the house and started to walk towards the school, not forgetting to explain to her brother that Kero needs food just like other hungry people would, although it was hard convincing Toya to bring the food up since he doesn't want to do too much work when he only came to her place for a week to visit them. Her father was busy at the university again so he won't be coming back for a while. Although he's busy most of the time, he cared for Kero like his own pet, but in a more respectful way.

The night was a bit chilly since it's already fall but Sakura didn't mind, she was too busy looking a the beautiful sakura trees on the side walks. Just at 5:00, she arrived at the school gate. Tomoyo was there, and so was a girl with long, black hair and red eyes. They both smiled at her.

"Hi, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo greeted her as she walked over to them. "Just on time! Let me introduce, this is Meiling Li, she's from Hong Kong." She turned to Meiling, "And this is my best friend, Kinomoto Sakura."

Meiling smiled and reached out a hand, Sakura shook it. "Nice to meet you."

Sakura looked at her watch then looked around. "Where are the others?"

"Oh, they had soccer practice so they're a bit late." Meiling said, smiling. "One of them is my cousin." Sakura cocked her head to one side, making her face look adorable.

"Hey! Sorry we're late!" Someone said behind Sakura and she turned to look at them. Then her jaw dropped when she saw who it was.

The person who talked to them had short, blue hair and glasses, his white face looked kind as he turned to look back at her. The other person who followed him had dark chestnut hair with the eyes that Sakura longed to see for a long time. He wasn't smiling, though.

"Ah! You're finally here!" Meiling said and ran over to Syaoran, she hooked her arm with him. Syaoran grunted.

_She _had_ to bring me here._ He thought but stopped complaining when he saw Sakura. His eyes turned wide.

"Oh, have you two met yet?" Meiling asked sweetly and let go of him. Then she looked at Sakura who stared at Syaoran as if he was a millionaire. Meiling felt strange. "Well, anyway, this is Kinomoto Sakura. And Kinomoto? This is my cousin, Syaoran." Sakura looked at her.

"Th-this is your cousin?" She asked. Meiling nodded.

"Yup, he's the sweetest cousin I know!" Then she wrapped her arms around Syaoran's neck and coo-ed. He looked annoyed.

Near them, the blue-haired boy coughed and everyone except Syaoran turned to look at him. He was too busy staring at the (beautiful) Sakura.

"Oh, sorry." Meiling said sheepishly. "This is Hiiragizawa Eriol. He's a far relative of ours." He bowed in a gentleman-like way and walked over to give Sakura a kiss on the hand.

"Bonjour, Madam." He said and Sakura blushed while Syaoran looked at him disgustingly.

"Jeez, Eriol, be an idiot won't you?" Syaoran mumbled. Eriol only smiled.

"I'm not going to let you call me something that I'm not, my cute 'descendant"." He chuckled a bit. Sakura looked at him quizzically.

"Descendant?" She asked.

"Don't be confused, I just like calling him that." Syaoran looked very annoyed now. Sakura smiled.

"You can all call me 'Sakura', you know?" Sakura said friendlily. While everyone (but Syaoran) turned to smile at her.

"Well, let's go." Tomoyo suggested and they all started walking towards town.

The day passed normally as they all gathered around a restaurant for dinner. Then they started window shopping at the clothes shop while the boys wandered of looking at the sports shop. It was getting dark pretty soon and Sakura doesn't want to go home really late. She checked her watch and it read "7:30" which is just about time to leave and go home.

"Guys?" Sakura interrupted as Meiling and Tomoyo studied a wedding dress through a window. "I kinda gotta go home now, it's getting pretty late."

Tomoyo stopped staring and looked at her watch as well. Then she gasped a little. "Oh boy, it's already half pass seven!!" She said and Meiling finally snapped out of her thoughts.

"Well, it's not that late is it?" She asked and Sakura sweat-dropped.

"Um, I need to finish my homework." She said and scratched her cheek nervously. Syaoran grinned a little at her cuteness.

Meiling made an upset sound and pouted. "I was hoping we could all watch a movie. There's this new romance movie in the theatre that I really want to see. Wanna watch, Syaoran?" She tugged on Syaoran who looked at her with bored eyes.

"Romance? Can't we watch any action movies?" He asked, officially not too interested in watching that movie. Meiling glared at him.

"Ne!" She said and Syaoran sighed.

"You go ahead. I'm going home. I'm too tired anyway, I have soccer practice in the morning tomorrow." Meiling didn't look too happy. Then she turned to Sakura and brightened up.

"Fine then, but in one condition: you're sending Sakura home."

"What?!" Sakura and Syaoran both yelled at the same time while Tomoyo grinned. She gave Meiling a wink.

"What? You guys need to know each other anyway. And I'm sure that Sakura needs company, right? It's getting pretty dark so it might not be safe for a pretty girl like her."

"I know how to fight." Sakura said. "Um, I took karate classes when I was young."

"Who cares?" Meiling suddenly protested. "Syaoran, I order you to bring Sakura home. _Safely_." She stretched out the last words and Syaoran looked at her weirdly.

"Fine." He surrendered and looked at Sakura. "Where do you live?"

Sakura blushed and looked at her feet. The others grinned. "Izuki St." She whispered. "Number 28."

"Let's go then." Syaoran said and turned to Eriol. "Take care of them, k?"

"No problem." Eriol replied and skipped off with the girls who waved at Sakura and giggled.

"Where do _you_ live?" Sakura suddenly asked as they walked towards her home. Syaoran didn't look at her.

"Down this street." He said casually, his hands in his pockets. "I live in the apartments near the park. Not too far from your house, actually."

"You mean those huge, white ones?" Sakura asked. Syaoran nodded. She gave him a childish smile. "How long are you living here? You just moved here about a month ago, right?"

Syaoran shrugged. "I don't know. I'm only here for a mission."

"Mission?" Sakura repeated. "What is it?"

"Nothing you'll understand." He said simply, still not looking at her. His cold eyes started to make her shiver.

They turned down a street and it was just a few blocks away till they get to her home.

"I was wondering." Syaoran whispered. "Do you believe in magic?"

Sakura looked stricken and thought of a lie. "N-no. Why?" Syaoran shrugged again.

"Nothing. Just wondering." Then he put his hands behind his head.

Sakura suddenly stopped walking and looked up at her house. Then she turned back to Syaoran.

"Well, this is it." She said, swinging her arms at her sides. "Thank you for bringing me home."

"No problem." He said, smiling a little. "I'm sure you would've gotten home safe alone anyway." Sakura grinned, still blushing.

Sakura hesitated for a moment looked at her shoes shyly, then she looked up again. "We are friends, right?" Syaoran looked a bit stricken at that question.

"Um," He managed to say, "I guess." Sakura pretended to look relieved, even though inside she wasn't sure if Syaoran meant it.

"See you tomorrow then." She waved a little and turned around. Just when she was going to open the gates, her brother bursted out of the house with an angry expression on his face.

"WHY ARE YOU BACK SO LATE, GAKI?!" He yelled and both Sakura and Syaoran had to cover their ears.

"I'm not a gaki!!" Sakura yelled back as she opened the gate and stepped in, not forgetting to wave to Syaoran one more time as she turned around completely. Syaoran watched the two people argue for a moment, looking amused, then he turned around to leave as well.

"Who was he?!" Toya asked, sounding angry. Sakura closed the door and bent down to untie her shoes.

"Just a new friend of mine." She said and slipped on her slippers. "His name is Syaoran Li."

"A Li gaki then." Toya mumbled and Sakura turned to glare at him.

"He's not a gaki!" She said and huffed then walked away.

Outside on the streets, Syaoran walked home quietly with nothing but two questions in his mind. _Why did she ask me if we were friends? And why do I have a feeling that she's not a normal person?_ He shook is head and ruffled his hair, making it look messier. _I just gotta get her out of my mind. A shower and some sword practice will do._ Then he stopped wondering to get ready for the next day.


	4. Trouble

4. **Trouble**

Sakura woke up the next morning and felt a strange aura around her. She looked at her clock and read "6:40", one of the earliest days she's woken up.

She climbed out of her bed and walked to her window, staring at her reflection and sorted out her ruffled hair. _I _really_ need to get a hair cut. _She thought.

Taking out a green shirt and a pair of white jeans, she slipped them on carelessly and headed towards the bathroom, meeting her father half way there.

"Morning, dad." She smiled and stopped in front of him.

"Good-morning, Sakura-chan" He smiled at her fondly and touched her hair. "You're early." He sounded a bit worried.

"I'm fine," She said, waving her hands. "I just...have a weird feeling."

"Is it a card?"

It took a while for Sakura to answer and she stared at her feet. "I'm not sure, but it doesn't feel like human." Fujikita nodded.

"Just be careful." He said and pulled his hand away, still smiling. "And don't worry, you have your invisible spell." Then he headed downstairs.

Sakura smiled to herself and her eyes sparkled. _Everything will be okay_. She thought and continued to the bathroom.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I'm leaving, Wei." Syaoran said as he grabbed his bag and headed towards the door. Wei, his servant, came over and bowed.

"Have a good day, Master Li." He said and Syaoran started to open the door., but was stopped by Wei. "Master, have you any news about the cards?" Syaoran stopped midway.

He turned to him and said, "No, I haven't, although I do feel something today. And I also met a person who seems to know magic, but I'm not sure if she does."

"She?" Wei asked curiously. "Is she one of the ladies you met yesterday?" Syaoran nodded.

"Although, I did bump into her a few days ago." He said with a finger on his chin. Wei smiled.

"I'm sure you'll find the answer." He said and Syaoran smiled at him. Then he opened the door and left.

_Kinomoto Sakura, _He thought, _She's very interesting. I heard that a girl set the cards free and is probably collecting them now, I wonder if she had anything to do with it. Maybe I should ask her._ Then he shook his head. _No, maybe not, she probably won't tell me anyway. I should probably ask Daidouji, she's Kinomoto's best friend, she might tell me something about it if I..._ He smirked. _I'll try that._

Syaoran whipped turned around when he heard something in the bushes nearby. The thing was extremely close. He turned around but saw nothing except for some dead leaves hanging on the trees and covering the bushes. Although, he still didn't loose caution. It was a breezy morning and the dead leaves moved along the ground, surrounding Syaoran's feet, his hair whipping around this face making it look messier. And...gorgeous? Well, that's what most girls would think, anyway.

"Syaoran?" A gently male voice asked and Syaoran turned to him. It was Eriol. "Is everything okay?"

Syaoran glared at him a bit. "What? Don't tell me you don't sense any Clow Cards." Eriol smiled.

"I do, but it's very faint. You're getting powerful each day, Syaoran."

"Well I should be. I'm your descendant, right?"

"To be exact, you are Clow Reed's descendant."

"Well, you are him."

"Just a reincarnation, I guess you can say." Eriol's smile broadened.

"Whatever," Syaoran said and turned to walk to school. Eriol followed quietly. Syaoran broke the silence.

"Don't you feel strange about Kinomoto?" He asked and Eriol smiled.

"You do?" He asked gently. Syaoran nodded.

"She feels like magic."

"Sorry?"

Syaoran suddenly stopped and repeated what he said in his head. Then he blushed a bit. "I mean, she seems to have some magic." Eriol only grinned.

"Well, you have to make sure, don't you?" He asked and Syaoran looked at him.

"Shouldn't you know everything?"

"Not everything."

Another beat of silence.

"Get close to her." Eriol said and started walking again. "See if you could figure it out."

"I was thinking about asking Daidouji. Since she's her best friend, she should know, right?" Eriol shrugged.

"Don't just ask, do something." He said simply as Syaoran gave him a glare.

"Never knew you were so lazy." He mumbled. Eriol grinned again.

"I'm about 87 years old, you know?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Ah! What a beautiful day, Toya!" Sakura said as she skated backwards on her blades, Toya rode close to her to keep her from falling.

"Careful, monster, don't wanna crack your head open." Toya teased and Sakura glared at him.

"Don't ruin this day for me." She said and turned around. Then she suddenly stopped, making Toya skid into a halt.

"What?" He grumbled, but Sakura only kept her eyes wide opened. Toya's voice suddenly turned much more gentle. "Sakura, what's wrong?"

"I sense something." She said and turned in circles. "Clow Cards."

"Now?" He asked and adjusted his position on the bike. Sakura nodded.

"Although it's really faint, I can still sense it."

"_DONG! DONG!." _The bell in the church tower towed, it's already 7:30.

"We need to go." Toya said, putting his foot back on the pedal. "You can deal with it later, can't you?"

Sakura nodded and turned around. Although she was still worried.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Well done class, you've all done great today. Remember, next week is your second trimester!" All the students in the class cheered for that.

"Sakura-chan! Hurry up!" Tomoyo yelled impatiently at the door while Sakura hurried to gather her things.

"I'm trying!" She yelled back and started to the door, accidently bumping into someone (again) and dropped her things. One of her pens rolled onto the side.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" She apologized and knelt down to pick up her things, feeling stupid for being so clumsy.

"No, it's okay, I'm use to you being so clumsy." A young male voice said in front of her and helped her pick up her things. Sakura glanced up to see who it was and gazed into a pare of light blue eyes.

"Keiji! You came back!" She said happily and smiled when he looked up at her. "What? It's been a month?"

"Yup, something like that." He said. "Tokyo's quite a mess."

"Well, you liked it, didn't you?" She teased and Keichi reached up to ruffle her hair.

"You know I did." He smiled.

Kadachi Keiji is his whole name, and same as Sakura, he's in Sophomore year. He played football and basketball and also has a car (lucky!). He dyed a bit of brown in his spiky blond hair and he has been one of the most well-known jocks in the school for the past few years. Sakura has had a big crush on him since 5th grade, but whether she still likes him or not, she's not even sure. Keiji just went to Tokyo for the past month and Sakura missed him. At least, that's what she thinks.

"So, you guys missed me?" He asked amusingly while Sakura gave him a playful glare.

"No, not at all. In fact, I was really happy when you're not here." Keiji pouted.

"Hey! That hurt!" He said. Sakura giggled but stopped when a pen appeared at the corner of her eye.

"You dropped this." Syaoran said in his calm, cool voice. He was a bit glaring at Keiji, but why, he wasn't sure.

"Thanks..." Sakura said took the pen from his hand. She glanced up at the two.

"Hi, um, I don't believe we've met." Keiji said and reached out a hand. "I'm Kadachi Keiji." Syaoran stared at the hand for a moment.

"Li Syaoran." He said and finally shook it, but none of them seemed to really like each other.

"Well, now that you've met each other, I gotta go since Tomoyo is waiting for me to eat lunch with her. " Sakura said and stuck her pen in her bag. The two boys looked at her. "Uh, thanks, guys." Keiji smiled at her while Syaoran only nodded, she jogged away.

_What's the matter with me? _Sakura wondered. _I thought I stopped liking Keiji a long time ago and I surely don't like Syaoran. Geez, I'm turning into a drama queen!_ She grunted and looked around, not seeing Tomoyo anywhere. _Maybe she's already at the Sakura tree_. She continued walking.

Syaoran look at her retreating for a moment before mentally slapping himself out of the gaze on her hips. They were swinging! He cursed. _What is _wrong_ with me? Why was I so angry all of a sudden?_

"Ahem." Keiji faked a cough and Syaoran turned to look at him. "You...good friends with Sakura?" He sounded a bit too cautious.

Syaoran blushed and looked around, making sure no one was listening. "No, I only met her a few days ago. Barely even know her." He felt Keiji relax a bit.

"Ah, well, she's a really nice girl. You should get to know her." He gave Syaoran a small slap on the shoulder and walked away. Syaoran stared at his back.

_What does _he_ want?_ He wondered and started to look for Eriol.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Weird._ Sakura thought as she wandered around the playground, looking for Tomoyo. _Where is she? She's not at the tree_. _Couldn't find Meiling or the others either. Maybe I should've stuck with Syaoran, he probably knows where they are._

The sound of leaves shaking cut Sakura off her thoughts, she looked around nervously and gripped on her lunchbox harder. Another shake from a bush nearby. was heard

"Who is it?" She asked. No one replied. "Hello?" Still nothing.

Sakura started to get a bit scared. Just a _bit._ But it was day time, there shouldn't be any ghosts! She heard another sound from the opposite direction and turned around, only to find herself staring at a tree with leaf-less branches.

Another sound caught her attention, it was the sound of footsteps, coming closer and closer towards her, although it sounded a bit too light for a human. Sakura suddenly whipped around, hoping it was a friend who was trying to scare her. But only, her face fell this time.

_A card!_


	5. A mistake

**A mistake**

"Where's Sakura?" Tomoyo asked the munching Meiling who was starving for food, her mouth was full of it. "She _should_ be here by now."

"Did you tell her we're at the roof?" Meiling asked with her mouth full. "'Cause I don't think you did."

"Hi girls." Eriol said politely as he opened the roof door and stepped out with a silent Syaoran behind him. Tomoyo blushed a little at Eriol's appearance.

"Hey guys! You're slow!" Meiling said after she swallowed her food.

"Well apparently, Syaoran was busy having his nose stuck in some certain one's business and had a hard time snapping out of it." Eriol teased and Syaoran blushed while gaving him a glare.

"Oh my gosh!" Meiling gasped. "You have a crush!"

Syaoran turned redder. "Do not!" He exclaimed and sat down on a bench nearby.

"By the way, have you seen Sakura-chan anywhere?" Tomoyo asked gently while Eriol shrugged.

"_I _haven't." He said. "But _he_ did." Syaoran looked up.

"Yeah, bumped into her after class. But that was about 10 minutes ago."

"Weird," Tomoyo said. "Usually when she knows that I'm not at the sakura tree, she would come up here to find me."

"You didn't tell her we're up here?" Syaoran asked, munching his food. Feeling a bit worried.

"Well, she's a smart girl. And besides, these are the only two places where eat lunch at."

The door behind Eriol creaked open and a quiet Sakura stepped in, her lunchbox in her hand.

"Sakura-chan! You're finally here!" Tomoyo and Meiling jumped up and walked over to their friend. Sakura was still silent. "We were worried about you."

"Well, you worried just a bit much, Tomoyo-san." Eriol said and joined them. Syaoran still sat there while munching his food and staring at Sakura.

"I'm sorry." She said, but her eyes showed no emotion. "I forgot to come up."

"Well, now that you're here let's eat up." Meiling said. "Sorry Sakura, I started before you came, I was really hungry."

Sakura finally smiled. "No, it's fine, I understand." She said and walked to where Meiling was sitting earlier. Syaoran was still staring at her.

_Strange, why is she acting so weird? _He thought. Fidgeting with his chopsticks. Eriol noticed and walked over to him with a smirk on his face.

"Is there anything you're keeping from me, my cute descendant?" He teased. Syaoran glared at him, hard. When Eriol uses the word "descendant", it's never a good sign.

"No." He said, keeping his voice low so the girls wouldn't hear. "It's just that she wasn't like this yesterday when I sent her home."

"'Like this'?" Eriol repeated and turned to stare at Sakura as well. Suddenly, Syaoran bolted up which got Eriol's attention back on him. He saw the brown-haired boy staring at Sakura like she was some sort of murderer, but his eyes also showed worry. "Syaoran?"

All of a sudden, Sakura lifted her gaze up from the girls to Syaoran as well. Even though her face barely showed any emotion, her eyes were smirking, but not in a Sakura-like way. It felt like the whole world slowed down the all around them darkened, having just a dim light shining upon Sakura and him. He felt it, he knew she wasn't normal. To be more accurate, he knew she wasn't human.

"Sakura, can I see you after lunch?" Syaoran suddenly spoke up, interrupting the three girls' conversation. "We need to talk." Tomoyo and Meiling gaped at him while Sakura just stared and nodded.

Eriol knew it, too. He knew magic too well. But making sure Syaoran improves his skill, he has to let him do this on his own. _He _is _getting much stronger._ He thought, realizing that the worry he had for him before was just a waste of time.

Meiling and Tomoyo left with Eriol, leaving Syaoran alone with Sakura on the roof. She could definitely tell that he wasn't happy, but _she_ seemed to be since she was smiling.

"What are you?" Syaoran finally broke the silence. "Which card are you?"

Sakura–the cloned Sakura–kept smiling and staring, leaving Syaoran both frustrated and annoyed.

"I said, which card are you?" He repeated, his voice much fiercer this time.

This time, Sakura's smile vanished and her emerald eyes gleamed a bright blue, shining bright blue that showed danger...but also a reflection. Syaoran looked closer into those blue orbs. It was Sakura, the _real_ Sakura with her eyes closed. Anger flooded onto his face as he took a ying-yang keychain out of his pocket and a sword appeared in his hand after a sliver chain surrounded his wrist. "Lei dian lai ling!" He chanted in Chinese and a yellow bolt of lightning came shooting down towards the card. It didn't seem to do much harm to it.

Gripping on his sword tighter, Syaoran charged for her, using his kung-fu skills on the weak card. Well, at least, it was suppose to be weak. Too bad the card was Sakura, it also had her skills in karate. Easily, she dodged the sword that was coming down on her and with lightning speed, ran behind Syaoran to punch him in the back. Syaoran noticed before she made a move and stepped aside, turning around to face her. But before she could react, Syaoran chanted another Chinese Element spell and hit the card onto the door wall, whereas Sakura came bolting in with an alarmed look on her face. She didn't come in safely on her feet, it was more like she fell in through the door and tripped on her foot before taking a few other unbalanced steps towards Syaoran, then fell flat on her face. Syaoran heard her wince and grunt before she got up.

"Wha-what happened...?" Sakura's voice trailed away slowly when she saw the other her kneeling down near the wall.

"Come behind me." Syaoran said, not realizing how protective he was over her until he said that. Sakura obeyed his orders and walked silently behind him.

'Chance! This is a chance to see if she has magic!' Syaoran suddenly thought, the caring he had for her a second ago disappeared. 'If she's the real cardcaptor, she wouldn't let me get away with the card.' Smirking, he watched as the card slowly stood up and got ready again in Sakura's karate pose.

"Hey, no fair! That's my special pose!" Sakura pouted while Syaoran rolled his eyes a bit as the card charged for them again. Syaoran easily dodged the hit, thinking that the card was going towards him, but when he cleared the way, he immediately heard Sakura grunt as the card attacked her. He had to admit, he was surprised by her skills. Well, to be exact, their skills.

'I can't use magic.' Sakura thought. 'Not in front of him.' She dodged again and also hit the card on the back of her head with her elbow. Bending down, she swung her leg across the ground, tripping the card and making her flip until she hit the ground. Syaoran took this chance and pushed Sakura aside, and using his sword, he pointed it at the card, chanting a chinese spell and saw the card glow. At first it was her whole body, then the form shrunk and shaped into a small card. The glowing stopped, and the card dropped onto the ground. Syaoran smiled knowlingly.

Sakura pretended to be surprised. Well, she was, actually, since she never thought that Syaoran would be the original cardcaptor. The Li clan. Descendant of Clow Reed, the cards' owner. She got all this information from Kero and Yue.

Syaoran took the card and stood up to look at her. Feeling a little uncomfortable, he murmured, "I made a mistake." He stared at her expressionlessly. "You're not the cardcaptor."


	6. Secret revealed and another side

** revealed and another side**

"A-a cardcaptor?" Sakura asked, trying her hardest to sound confused. "What-what is that?"

Syaoran looked away from her, guilty from thinking of her as an enemy, staring at his feet, he replied, "A few months ago, a girl in Tomoeda released the Clow Cards. They're magical, each and every one of them have their special power. I've been sent from my clan to come and reclaim the cards since the maker of those cards is my ancestor. I've also been said to capture the girl," he paused, taking a breath, "and take them to my clan. I don't know what they'd to the girl, though." At that point, he relaxed a bit. "Thank god she wasn't you."

Sakura gulped, realizing that he was thinking of her as the 'girl'. Which, of course, she is. Her eyes twitched, looking at every object that came to her sight. Minus Syaoran. Gulping again, she asked, "You're a cardcaptor." It was more of a statement. "And...does anyone else besides _me_ know that?"

"Eriol does." Syaoran replied, suddenly becoming frustrated and confused at the same time, "He is the reincarnation of Clow Reed, the maker of the card." _Why am I telling her this?!_

"Eriol's the reincarnation of Clow?!" Sakura yelped, making Syaoran stare at her. "I mean," she cleared her throat, "he knows magic, too?"

Syaoran nodded and looked at the card. On it was a green-haired girl holding a small mirror with the words 'mirror' under her. He put it in his pocket and changed his sword back into a keychain, still not able to look at Sakura in the eye. "I'm sorry," he said, more like murmured, "and please don't tell anyone about what happened today." With that, he turned around and walked to the door. It was still opened since Sakura came tumbling in without having the thoughts to close it. He walked right through.

Sakura still gaped at him. One is because she just realized that Syaoran was her rival, and two was that Eriol knows magic _and_ he's actually Clow. Wait, how was that possible?

"Oh~Kero," Sakura said to thin air, "you have a lot of explaining to do!" Stiffly, she took her lunchbox from its place and left as well.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You _told_ her, Syaoran?" Eriol asked Syaoran as they walked home. "She didn't ask anything and you _told_ her?!"

"Look, I can't help it." Syaoran said, shrugging., feeling frustrated himself. "It's just, I _had_ to tell her."

"No, you didn't have to," Eriol said, "you _wanted_ to." Syaoran blushed.

"What do I do now?" Syaoran sighed, his head dangling, "She just...she just _made_ me trust her."

"Guys! Wait up!" Meiling yelled and jogged up from behind them with Tomoyo and Sakura trailing behind. "Geesh, what's with the running?" She hooked her arm with Syaoran's while he grunted.

"We're not _running_." He moaned and looked over his shoulder to see the two girls. "And why are _you _walking this way?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm going to Tomoyo's house today." Meiling answered as Tomoyo and Sakura walked over to say hi to Eriol. Sakura and Syaoran's gaze met for a second. _Just_ a second. "We're working on a project together at her place."

"Oh." Syaoran said simply and heard Sakura's small voice talk to Eriol and she smiled to answer a question. He still felt awkward about what has happened earlier at noon, but he just couldn't help but look at her innocent and joyful face.

"Come on! Let's go! I want at least 2 hours to do our project!" Meiling exclaimed and pulled on Tomoyo's arm to drag her so she would move instead of talking with Eriol the whole time. Tomoyo moved, but she still couldn't resist from chatting with Eriol about her concerts. He so understands her!

The five people walked side-by-side with Eriol at one end, Tomoyo next to him, Meiling next to _her_ and what's left was Sakura and Syaoran, walking awkwardly next to each other. Both were silent.

"It's really strange that you know magic." Sakura finally spoke after 15 minutes of silence. "Must be...fun." She mentally whacked herself.

"Yeah, it kinda is, really." Syaoran answered with the same tension she had. "But...it's not really used for tricks."

"Does Meiling know?" She asked quietly, in case she spills out something that wasn't supposed to, Syaoran looked at her.

"Well, no, not really. Her family isn't _that_ close to mine. Her mother has a bad relationship with my mom and Meiling only knows me 'cause we learn karate with each other."

"Oh." Sakura said quietly and they were silent for another moment.

"Hey, Xiaolang! Can Sakura and Tomoyo come to our place for dinner?" Meiling suddenly asked. Syaoran yelled out a large "EH?"

"Why?!" He demanded, Sakura only looked at him quizzically. What's 'Xiaolang'?

"Well, we want to get closer, that's all!" Meiling smiled innocently, although her eyes weren't _that_ innocent.

"May I come?" Eriol asked gently and Meiling nodded.

"Everyone could come!" She said, noticing Syaoran was about to argue. "You really wouldn't mind, would you?" She asked him.

Syaoran stuttered, recognizing that 'innocent' tone Meiling was using at that moment and knew that something was right. Looking through the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura smiling at him with that happy grin she always wore. He blushed.

"Fine. But _you_'re making dinner." He mumbled, not really meaning it. Meiling only pouted but didn't argue. _Anything to get you two together!_ she thought smugly.

"Ne, Li Kun?" Sakura silently asked, poking Syaoran on the shoulder. "What's 'Xiaolang'?"

Syaoran stared at her for a moment, not really paying attention to the question but recovered immediately. "Um, that's my Chinese name." He answered. "It means 'little wolf'."

"Oh, that's cute!" Sakura said. Syaoran glared at her when she called him 'cute'. Boys aren't cute! Well, at least that's what _he_ thinks. "I mean, that's a really nice name!" She corrected, sighing in relief that Syaoran wasn't glaring at her anymore.

Tomoyo and Meiling said good-bye to them when the reached the road to Tomoyo's house, saying they would be there at Syaoran's house at 6. Eriol left as well since he didn't live with Syaoran and turned down in another street, saying he has something else to do at his own house. Syaoran knows what's going on ever since Meiling's been so 'innocent', but Sakura...wasn't really smart enough to realize that. No offense.

"Are you coming tonight?" Syaoran asked shyly, not really knowing _why_ he asked that question. Sakura nodded.

"Hopefully. Since my dad comes home really late and he usually isn't there for supper. I _could_ come. That is...if it's a good time for you?" _I'd love to come!_

"Yeah. Wei can help me." Syaoran said, taking in Sakura's confused look. "He is my...caretaker. He took care of me ever since I was small. He was like a father, really." At this point, he looked troubled. "Because I never had one."

Sakura looked at the one side of Syaoran she never knew he had and didn't know what to do. She panicked. "Ah, well, I barely knew my mom either!" She said, trying to comfort him. "She, uh, passed away when I was 3 and...well, guess we're on the same boat!" Syaoran stared at her. "Um, right?" _God, I'm so stupid!_

Syaoran finally chuckled at her panicking figure and shook his head. "It's fine, really, I wasn't upset or anything." Sakura relaxed a teeny, tiny bit. "Wei_ is_ like a father to me, and I'm glad about that." He smiled fondly. "And because of him, I don't really care what my real father was like." Sakura stared at him. She never knew he had this half.

Suddenly, Sakura jolted and looked at her watch, it read '3:47' and she had to go home to wash the laundries, do her homework, go get some groceries and make dinner for Kero since she won't be there. Panicking again, she looked at Syaoran. "Sorry, Li Kun, gotta go, I still have a lot of things to do at home." She explained and Syaoran nodded to her confusingly.

"Okay then...have fun." He said, smirking inwardly as Sakura pouted.

"It's _chores_, and chores' aren't fun!" She retorted and turned to run down her street. She waved at him with a single 'see you later' and disappeared in a corner. Leaving Syaoran standing there, bewildered, and sigh as he continued down his road. _Meiling won't be too happy about this_. He thought, knowing Meiling wanted him to take her home.

_Dinner. Hmm...what should be for dinner?_


	7. Closer

**7. Closer**

"You're finally here, Sakura!" Tomoyo exclaimed as Sakura entered Syaoran's gigantic apartment. It was _so_ big the she lost her way here! Well, no, not really. As you may have guessed, Sakura was just _late_.

"Sorry," Sakura apologized and took off her shoes, then she bent over to whisper in Tomoyo's ear. "Kero was picking on his food."

Tomoyo mouthed and "O" and turned around to Syaoran's dining room while Sakura followed quietly with her hands behind her back. It felt strange to be eating dinner at a rival's place, it really is. But on second thought, Syaoran doesn't know she knew magic so they're not officially enemies. That thought cheered Sakura up.

"Hi, Sakura-san!" Eriol and Meiling both greeted as they sat across from each other at the table. Syaoran was sitting at the far end, looking tired. Glancing over the food, Sakura was surprised by how much there was, no wonder Syaoran looked so exhausted.

"Please sit, Miss Kinomoto," Wei said in his elderly like manner. "everything's ready." Sakura smiled kindly at him, remembering the description Syaoran said of him earlier that afternoon. He looked old, like in his late 50's and he was wearing those small glasses that fitted perfectly on his nose and in front of his eyes. He had really kind eyes, and the look he gave them reminded Sakura of her father...

"Thank you, Wei." Sakura said as Wei bowed respectfully and disappeared in a corner of the kitchen.

"Well, now that everyone's here," Meiling began and lifted up her cup of orange juice, "let's start!"

"Cheers!" They all said while Syaoran just grunted, still slouched in his chair. Sakura smiled at him and started to eat off from her plate, looking at the number of food there was, she seemed a bit sad.

Hey! It's un-respectful to not finish all the food at someone's house!

Finishing the last piece of fish from her plate (after about an hour), Sakura half burped, half hiccuped under her hand, a bit blushing from her un-womanlike way. Syaoran didn't bother to finish all the food on his plate and neither did Meiling, she was also busy burping and slouching back in her chair to chill and relax. Oh, did Sakura just think 'chill'? Tomoyo and Eriol all finished theirs and were chuckling at Meiling who was retorting back that she _was_ a woman. Syaoran also grunted a "You're so not." and Meiling glared at him.

"Thank you very much, Li-Kun." Sakura spoke up and Syaoran glanced up at her. "It was very nice!" He blushed.

"Th-thanks." He mumbled and Sakura smiled at him kindly, he couldn't stop staring at her face afterwards.

_Some time later..._

"Are you okay?" Sakura walked onto the porch and found Syaoran standing there, leaning against the railing with the wind blowing through his hair. He looked troubled ever since the incident at noon.

"I'm fine." He murmured back, not turning around to look at her.

"Um...everyone's left, so..." Sakura wasn't sure to leave or not.

"Can you just...stay...for a minute?" Syaoran hesitated, trying to control himself from turning around to look at her.

Sakura gave a quick glance at her watch just to make sure she wasn't too late. And it wasn't bad, there's still about half an hour until 8 o'clock.

"Sure." She replied, and stepped over to lean on the porch railing herself.

"You...haven't told anyone that I'm a cardcaptor...have you?" Syaoran asked cautiously, scared that this girl might really be her enemy.

"No!" Sakura retorted. How could he not trust her? "No. I-I would _never_ do such thing!" She said, lowering her voice. "I never break a promise." Syaoran couldn't help himself from looking at her.

She looked a bit disappointed and her bangs covered most of her eyes. _They were green,_ Syaoran thought, _very green and were almost shining like the sun, save for the fact they they were much prettier and sweet_. Her eyebrows were knitted slightly over her eyes and she gave out a small sigh, her hands clutched on to each other tighter as a few strands of hair came down in front of her over her shoulders. _She's breathtaking_, he thought again, _and I'm not wrong for thinking that._

"Sorry." Syaoran murmured, although this time his voice was much clearer. "I know I could trust you." He reassured her, not wanting the girl in front of him to be upset. She looked at him warily, not spotting any hesitation in his eyes. She smiled slightly.

"Good." She said, and stood straighter to stretch her back. Syaoran still stared at her as she turned around to look at him, emerald eyes met brown ones. Her lips were slightly parted when she was starting to speak, but she stopped, not that she was forced to, but that she wanted to.

_I never really had_ _a good look at her eyes,_ Syaoran thought, _never thought that they were that_ _green._

_ He has nice eyes. _Sakura thought, blushing. _Too bad they're too deep to read_.

They stood there admiring each other's facial features for a while, taking each other's scent. When both of their eyes came down to the wrong spot, they both turned away as quickly as they could, both blushing really badly.

_They _did_ look soft. _Both people personally thought.

"I should probably go now." Sakura whispered, still blushing. She turned and left the porch while Syaoran stood there for a second, but decided that it's better if he sent Sakura away.

"I'll take you home." He suggested as Sakura struggled to put her boots on.

"No, it's fine, I't not that far, anyway." She said, finally getting one of her shoes on. "And besides, no one can attack me, I know karate!" She smiled at him proudly after she finished putting on both boots. "Well, then, that's it. Thanks for the dinner, Li-kun," Syaoran's heart fell a little when she used the words 'kun', "I had a good time."

"Yeah." He replied and leaned onto the side of a wall with his hands in his pockets. "See you, then."

Sakura smiled and opened the door, although her heart doesn't want to leave. Turning around one last time, she said, "_Today_ was really nice." Syaoran looked confused when she said 'today'. "I really felt like we've gotten closer." With that, she closed the door and left, leaving Syaoran standing there, gaping at the door with one of his hands out of his pockets, but Sakura left before he could say anything.

"Thump, thump." Sakura heard her heart say, no matter how she tried, she couldn't get it to stop.

"Oh, be quiet!" She informed to herself, her face was as red as potatoes.

_What just happened back there?_ She thought, frustrated. _Why did I say that?_

"Meow." A small cat purred next to her. It didn't look lost, but Sakura still had the urge to pet it and take it home. Stepping quietly over to the kitten, she petted its head as it purred under her palm, it didn't seem to be scared of people at all.

_I guess I _do_ like him a bit_. She over-thought about that. _Okay, maybe a lot!_ Sighing, she scratched the cat's neck and stared at its face. _Well, at least, we did get closer._

_Much closer_. Syaoran thought at the same time in his apartment.

Turns out they were much closer than they thought.


	8. Matchmaking

_Hi, guys!! Okay, so in this chapter, I'm gonna focus more on the romance and humor between Sakura and Syaoran, so if any of you are looking for any informations about the cards, this chapter will be a bit disappointing. But otherwise, it is what it is and the title tells everything. I'm sorry if the stories are too short, but I'll try to make this as long as I can. Thank you everyone who's reading! Hope you'll like it!_

_P.S. In the last chapter, Meiling didn't stay at Syaoran's/her place because she wanted to leave them alone and see if anything would go on between them..so if any of you were wondering why she left, you know it now. :)_

**8. Matchmaking**

"They didn't kiss." Meiling said to Tomoyo the next day at school. They were sitting together for art class, trying to paint a statue in front of the school building. "He didn't look any different when I got back." Then she sighed disappointedly.

"That's so bad." Tomoyo said, frowning. "I was hoping they would at least get closer. Did you ask anything about her to Li-kun?"

"I did." Meiling said. "But he only shrugged and said 'She left.' He didn't look disappointed, nor sad, nor guilty, nor anything!" She was starting to feel frustrated. "Guess it's up to us now."

"So, we're going to be matchmaking for the rest of the year?" Tomoyo asked, her eyes glimmering.

"Oh _yeah_!" Meiling said, smirking, "Oh, yes we are." A devil's horn popped out on top of her head.

_ x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x_

He dipped his paint brush into the cup, making it wet. Then he dipped it into the cup again, repeating what he did previously. Then he kept on replicating the movements he did, and Meiling was starting to get bored.

"Okay, this isn't getting anywhere. He's not moving!" She hissed as Tomoyo changed some new batteries into her camera. "What's with the camera?"

"Oh, it's to film down all the things we did to torture them. If they get along in the future, this'll be a funny thing to look at." Meiling stared.

"Okay then." She said, and looked around. "Sakura is over there." She pointed to a sakura tree where the young girl was sitting under. "We need to somehow make Syaoran go over there and talk to her."

"Then we can start torturing them?" Tomoyo said hopefully.

"You're so evil, Tomoyo," Meiling said disapprovingly. Suddenly, she smiled. "I love being friends with you."

Quietly, the girls made a plan, smiling at each other. Meiling was the first to make the move on Syaoran while Tomoyo ran over to Sakura to help attack. Grabbing some paint and a cup of water, Meiling rushed towards Syaoran like she was in a hurry and collapsed down beside him, still pretending to be scrambling.

"Xiaolang, hurry, give this paint and water to Sakura, I need to pee!" Syaoran made a face.

"Ask someone else to do it." He mumbled, returning back to his artwork.

"Please!" Meiling begged with puppy eyes. "I need to go _badly_."

Syaoran stared and blinked two times before shaking his head and taking the cup and paint from her hands. Meiling gave him a smile and ran away.

_Weirdo._ Syaoran thought. He stood up slowly and took a small look at the paint and water before walking hesitantly towards Sakura who was still sitting under the tree, painting.

Sakura, at that time, was just about to dip her dry paintbrush into her water cup but was surprised when she found that the cup wasn't there, nor was her paint. Her hands hovered over the blank spots as she looked around, trying to find any suspicious person who might have stolen her equipments. Tomoyo, at the same time, was hiding behind the tree, snickering, with Sakura's paint and cup in her hands. _Let's see if we'll get you two talking now. _She thought, knowing that the two people are too shy to speak up to each other.

Meiling looked at Syaoran's retreating figure and grinned, he was almost there! But her face fell when she saw a girl with blonde hair running towards Syaoran's direction, obviously not knowing she was going to crash since she was running backwards.

Tomoyo watched in horror as she saw the girl collide with Syaoran and the cup of water spilt all over Sakura's head. Sakura was screeching. Syaoran, at the time, was on the ground, still holding onto the paint, which is, unfortunately, in the blonde's face. She had turned around before crashing into him.

"Ah!" All five people yelled at the same time which caused everyone around them to stare. Tomoyo had already dropped Sakura's equipments and was running towards her with Meiling coming the opposite way. Sakura's hair was soaked with water and her cloths were drenched, too. The blonde pulled her face out of the paint Syaoran was holding and gasped; if only she could rearrange the colors, she could be performing the the circus! Syaoran...well, poor Syaoran...was being insulted by the two female witnesses and was basically choking on the water he'd spilt. Unfortunately, the water hit him as well.

"Ohmygod ohmygod, OHMYGOD!" The blonde was yelling, she was on her foot now and was pointing a colored finger at Syaoran which was dyed since she was wiping off smears from her face. "You, heartless, heartless creature!" She screeched, and stomped away with a very angry look on her face.

"I can't _believe _this!" Sakura was yelling at the same time with Tomoyo behind her, drying her hair. "How could you?!" She yelled towards Syaoran who was gaping at her, trying to find a time for an explanation. Holding a wet hand out, she said, "Don't even try. All I know right now is, one, keep away from you, and two, I'M FREAKING WET!" With that ,she turned and ran away. Tomoyo ran after her while Meiling had her hand out the whole time, signaling Syaoran that she was trying to pull him up. Both people, at the time, were too busy staring at Sakura's retreating figure. It was after about a minute that Syaoran finally moved to glare at her.

Meiling faked a smile and shrugged, giving an innocent "Oops?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Okay, so our last plan didn't work._ Meiling wrote on a torn piece of paper which had a whole bunch of scribbles that she and Tomoyo had written. _We need a new plan._

_Like what? _Tomoyo wrote back after Meilin threw the piece of paper to her, making sure that their geometry teacher wasn't looking.

_Hmm...I'm going to talk to Xiaolang, just so I make sure that he's not bad at us. And then... _Grinning, she continued. _He also has his blue-tooth! So I'll let him wear it and I could tell him what to say to Sakura!_

Tomoyo only raised her eyebrows at that idea. _Will that work?_

_ Of course it will! _Meiling smiled with triumph. _At least, I_ _know that he likes her._

Just when Meiling tossed the note to Tomoyo, their teacher saw it and threw the chalk on the floor.

"Li-san and Daidouji-san!" Both girls' attention fell on their teacher as the note dropped helplessly on the floor. "Detention for both of you! Come to my class right afterschool, and I'll teach you not to pass notes to each other again!"

"Yes, sensei." Both girls groaned and turned into their seats. Hopefully their plan will work before school ends.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You're kidding me." Syaoran said to Meiling. She'd pushed him right into a corner and told him about her plan; Syaoran, at the time, was completely against it. "Why do I have to talk to her?"

"Oh, come on, Xiaolang, I know you like her!" Meiling urged suggest-fully, prying him to agree with her. Seeing his slightly blushed face, she smiled. "I'm helping you here! So you'd better work with me or you'll never get her heart!"

"I never said I wanted her heart!" Syaoran said, still blushing. "I have my own!"

Slapping a hand on her forehead, Meiling sighed and stared at him unbelievably. "Just, work with me, okay?" This isn't going well so far. "I promise you won't regret it!"

Syaoran thought for a while, not completely sure of whether he should trust her or not. He had to admit, this might work, as long as she tells him the right words, (since he'd be too embarrassed to think of any) he might take another step closer to Sakura.

"Fine." He finally answered, Meiling was beaming. "But don't mess up, I'm relying on you."

"You can totally do that!" She said, and told him to get his blue-tooth out.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Remember to always stay calm." Meiling said through the phone near Syaoran's ear which is mostly hidden under his messy hair. "First, you don't want to let her have an impression that you're a freak."

"I already gave her a first impression." Syaoran whispered, and gulped when she saw Sakura standing barely 10 feet away from him with Tomoyo by her side, talking.

"Okay, walk over to her and say hi." Meiling said, she was standing behind a corner, watching Syaoran's every move, he seemed very nervous, and that doesn't happen often!

Slowly, Syaoran approached Sakura who had a disapproving look on her face when she saw him. Tomoyo knew what was happening and stepped away, leaving Sakura and Syaoran alone.

"Sorry about what happened earlier." Syaoran said, repeating what Meiling was telling him. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was looking."

Sakura relaxed a bit, understanding that Syaoran didn't mean it. She smiled at him, and gave him a impressed look. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it. I was just frustrated at that time."

Syaoran relaxed too, relieved that she wasn't going to throw-punch him in the face. His life was still his at that time. "Great!" He said, forgetting that he should've been waiting for Meiling's words first.

"Want to come over to my place for dinner?" Sakura suddenly suggested shyly with a small blush on her cheeks. "You know, since I owe you one."

"Uh..."Syaoran mumbled, and waited for Meiling to tell him what to say.

Meiling was just about to open her mouth and whisper to Syaoran when a boy from her class popped out of nowhere.

"Yo, whatcha doing?"

As a reflex, Meiling covered her phone so Syaoran wouldn't be disturbed and looked at the boy, or more like _glared_. "I'm talking here!" She hissed.

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanna come over to my place tonight." The boy smirked. "You know, have some fun?"

"Not interested." Meiling said and tried to concentrate back on her cousin who was standing there, still waiting for Meiling's reply.

"Aw, come on. Just for an hour?" The boy nudged her and Meiling was getting really angry.

"No, no, and no, you idiot!" Suddenly, she paused, and turned around to her cousin who had repeated what she had yelled through the phone. Sakura was gaping at him.

Angry, Sakura slapped her hand across Syaoran's face and stomped away. Syaoran was almost crying from both hurt and anger and turned towards Meiling, who was also gaping at him. But in a very, _very_ innocent way.

"Oops?" She whispered, and ran away so Syaoran wouldn't catch her and kill her.

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"Fail, fail, fail! Every idea is failing!" Meiling said after the fifth attempt of the day. The last plan almost had Sakura and Syaoran suspended from school. "What should we do now?" She asked Tomoyo.

"I don't know!" The grey-haired girl shrugged. "The only thing I know right now is to keep away from Li-kun so he wouldn't kill us!"

Meiling groaned in frustration and placed her forehead onto her knees, trying to think of another idea that might work. Suddenly, she poked her head up and smiled.

"Please, don't tell me you have another idea." Tomoyo pleased, obviously scared of Meiling now.

"Actually, I do." The chinese girl grinned and stroked her chin. "We only have the last study-hall left, and we need to get them together. And I know _exactly_ what to do..."

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Syaoran was walking down the hall, ruffling his hair. Sakura, apparently, now hates him because of Meiling's idiotic plans **_no offense**_ and all he wanted to do now is get home, take a shower, and then maybe get some sleep.

Sakura, at the same time, was walking through the hall in the opposite direction. The only thing that was keeping the two people from meeting each other was a small corner, and Sakura was definitely near it. She's been tortured that day by Syaoran who kept on saying that it was Meiling. Curse that boy, how could he blame this on Meiling?

Syaoran was thinking of an excuse at that time for his teachers to get out of school early; if he bumps into Sakura right now, he'd definitely be dead right away. Coming out of nowhere, a bucket of water came upon him and was about to land on his head. Having martial arts reflexes, Syaoran easily dodged that one, but not realizing that there was also wire right in front of his knees. But when he _did_ realize it, though, his legs were already tangled in the strings and he waved his arms around, trying to regain his balance, but eventually landed on his end with a hard "Ow."

Taking this chance, Meiling and Tomoyo shot out and pulled on two strings, one on each side of the wall. Syaoran saw them, though, but he was too busy untangling the strings from his legs in attempt to get out and grab the two girls. Just when he freed himself and stood up, Meiling and Tomoyo dumped out a bag of research tubes onto the floor and Syaoran lost his balance when he stepped on a few of them. Rolling down a few feet, he then saw two things coming towards him. One was big, and it looked like a big wooden board hung by strings and was right in front of his face. The other, he noticed briefly, was a long green string that had something red on it. Trusting his instincts, he grabbed onto the rope, saving him from crashing into the hard board and stumbled forward, Meiling and Tomoyo had already jumped to the side so he wouldn't crash into the them and hid behind a classroom door. Syaoran put a foot in front of him and skidded to a halt with his hands out in front of him, his eyes fell on his shoes as he heard a small, feminine gasp.

He lifted his head up and met a pair of shining emerald eyes. Sakura suspected that she would see Syaoran again, but not this way. Syaoran then looked at the object in his hands, turned out that it was a small handful of red roses; apparently, the roses where mostly gone because of how hard Syaoran had been tumbling.

"Hoe..." Sakura murmured as Syaoran stood up straight with a deep blush on his cheeks. His hands were still out and the flowers were still in it, so he held it higher so it was near Sakura's face and forced a smile.

"Um...Sorry?" Syaoran asked, and pushed the flowers to Sakura's chest. The small girl took it non too cautiously and glanced up at him.

"Li-kun...this..."

"It's just to tell you that I'm sorry." Syaoran interrupted, although he knew _exactly _what had really happened. "And...that, I didn't mean to hurt you at all, everything that happened today were just accidents."

Sakura looked behind him and spotted the mess. On the ceiling hung a wooden board that was attached to strings and the floor was all covered with plastic tubes; many of them were broken since Syaoran stepped on them. Still, she smiled and didn't care if he had been set up or not, as long as he apologized, it's fine.

"It's okay." Sakura said with a reassuring smile on her lips. "I forgive you." Syaoran smiled at her, finding a gigantic boulder move out from his heart and roll away, leaving a carefree, feather-light kernel inside him. "But could you still come over to my place for dinner?' Sakura suggested, finding herself blushing as she asked that.

Syaoran blushed, too, but in a happy way. Receiving a nod, Sakura beamed at him and also glanced at the ragged flowers in her hands. Her heart almost stopped when Syaoran took her hand; he had forgotten that he could be killed easily by that move; or he didn't care.

"So, what's for dinner?" He asked, almost as a whisper.

Sakura smiled at him and intertwined their fingers together, blushing bright red as she did that. "Would spaghetti be okay?"

Smiling, Syaoran nodded again as he watched the girl grin at him with the most happiest expression he as ever seen.

Ah~young love...

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Behind the corner, Meiling and Tomoyo were sitting against the wall, fanning themselves with their hands. Tomoyo gulped and moistened her mouth before speaking up. "I am _never_ going to match-make again!"

Meiling nodded and gulped as well. "Me neither."

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_Well, what do you think? Liked it? I'm actually quite proud of myself for all of this! ;P It took me only about an hour to finish this chapter because I wanted to write it so badly, sorry for not updating these days, I've been quite busy._

_Hoped you guys all liked it! PLEASE REVIEW!!! :)_


	9. Spell

It has been two weeks since the spaghetti dinner and Sakura and Syaoran are _definitely _known as going out by their friends. Even though they both had admitted it, (well, not really, but they didn't deny it either) they still haven't...well, _kissed_ yet.

It's kind of ridiculous, you know...well, okay, _very_ ridiculous, almost everyone knows that the first step of a relationship is a kiss...um, mostly anyway. Both people were way too shy to kiss each other, not even a peck on the cheek! And after the first 'date'...they haven't gone out once. Then again, they are too shy.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Meiling said ridiculously. " You still haven't kissed?"

Syaoran munched on his lunch while he ignored Meiling's babbling about how important a first kiss is. Even though he was blushing and was trying to ignore the fact that Meiling was actually _right_, (god, how he hated that) he still pretended to be deaf and paid more attention on his food than he ever did.

"I mean, come on, it's been two freakin' weeks!" Meiling yelped. "You guys have been together for two _weeks _and you still haven't kissed! What's with that?!"

"Poor Syaoran, Meiling's yelling at you about your relationship again, huh?" Eriol appeared and it gave Syaoran something to glare at.

"None of your business." The brown-haired boy stated and continued eating his food.

"I mean, _seriously_–"

"Meiling, could you stop torturing the poor Li-kun here?" Tomoyo half-begged as she and Sakura walked over to the three students. Sakura was smiling. Just smiling. Or in Syaoran's case, smirking. Syaoran, at the time, was almost grateful that Tomoyo was backing up for him. "I mean, the shy boy still hasn't matured yet, give him some time!" The respect he had for her suddenly disappeared.

"Maybe you're right, Tomoyo-chan." Meiling said, sighing dramatically. "At least, my little boy has grown up to be in a relationship!"

Syaoran made a face at her while Sakura walked over and settled herself next to him. She took his hand. "Hope Meiling-chan hasn't been too hard on you." She whispered in his ear.

"Well, she _was_." Syaoran said back with his head leaned forward a bit. "But that doesn't really matter now." The two people smiled at each other sweetly.

"Okay, I did say I want you guys to kiss, but the only thing I'm thinking right now is 'ew'." Meiling stated, and went back to her lunch after the two people gave her a face.

"Say, Syaoran," Sakura whispered after swallowing her home-made sushi, "wanna come over tonight? My dad made some cake."

"Hoohoo..." Meiling whistled, Sakura glared at her playfully, "girlfriend asking out her boyfriend for a date. Wow...time really has changed!"

"Shut up." Syaoran stated, and returned his full attention back to the blushing Sakura. "Sure, I'd love to come, anything to get away from this person." He pointed a finger at Meiling who stuck her tongue out.

Sakura smiled and looked at her watch to Syaoran's confusion. Why was she concerned about the time? Looking up again, she added, "I need to buy some things first and get ready before you come. How 'bout you come over at 6?"

"No prob." Syaoran said and returned back to his lunch, trying his hardest to not show the flame of happiness inside him.

Sakura was doing the same.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sakura sat at the dining table doing her homework, while waiting for the pizza in the oven to be finished. She glances up from her work to the clock on her wall, it read: 5:30; hopefully, the pizza will be finished before Syaoran comes.

Kero floated down quietly to the kitchen and smelled the pizza in the oven, hungry, then he glanced at Sakura who seemed to be stuck on some algebra problem with her tongue stuck out on one side of her mouth.

"Sakura?" Kero asked quietly and floated to her side, glancing over her shoulder as he settled himself on it. "Why are you making pizza?"

Sakura smiled in triumph when she finally solved the problem. She set her pencil down and yawned, while looking at Kero with tired eyes. "Syaoran's coming over tonight...Since dad made cake and I can't finish it–"

"I can finish it!" Kero said suggestively as his eyes sparkled in excitement. "When did your dad make it? How come I don't know?!"

"Sush down, Kero-chan!" Sakura exclaimed and covered half his face with her hand. "Remember that we still have neighbors!"

"But why did you have to like that Chinese brat?" Kero said in a muffled voice and pulled himself out of the girl's grasp. "He's your _enemy;_ well, your rival at least. The Li clan is not exactly a nice house!" Sakura didn't care.

"So? That doesn't mean Syaoran's a bad guy!" Kero shook his head.

"If he knows that you're the person he's looking for, he's gonna be mad...And he might take you back to his family and help them punish you! Clow invented me so I know a thing or two about them. Don't even get me started on Yelan, the brat's mother, I've met her before." Sakura looked at him curiously. "She's strict. Very strict." He added.

A chime from the oven interrupted Sakura from her curious thoughts. She walked over to the stove and opened it, revealing a perfectly made pepperoni pizza with heat coming out from the entrance.

"Whaaa!!!!" Kero came over and screeched in her ear dramatically. "Pizza!!!" He reached a paw inside the door and touched the pizza, eventually getting himself burnt and red. The fur on his paw sizzled.

"What are you thinking, Kero-chan?" Sakura asked and picked Kero up, and turned on some cold water in the sink. Kero was almost crying as Sakura let the water soak his burnt up fur. His fur isn't red anymore, but Kero still felt the stinging pain.

"Ow." He mumbled, and Sakura gently dried his paw with a towel.

"Be careful." Sakura said and returned to the oven, taking a towel first before touching it and pulling the tray out. She closed the door, and set the hot pizza on a big cutting board near her. Kero stayed away from it.

Just at the same time, her doorbell rang loudly in the living room, startling Sakura from her place and Kero jumped, too, with his wings. Silently and hurriedly, Sakura signaled Kero to fly back to her room and hide, which Kero agreed. She rinsed her hand swiftly, with no apparent reason, and dried it with her towel before rushing to get the door, smiling.

"Hi, Syaoran." She said shyly and stepped away from the door. "You're, uh..." she looked at the clock, "early! Very, early." _Wow, it's only 5:45! _She thought silently.

"Yeah," Syaoran shrugged and stepped in, "I just thought being early is better than being late." He pulled out something from behind his back and gave it to Sakura, blushing..._really_ blushing. "I just...thought it would be nice." Sakura accepted it happily.

"Thanks." She exclaimed, and turned to the kitchen to get a vase to put the flower in.

She then took the strawberry cake out from her refrigerator while Syaoran walked around the living room to look at some pictures. He's always liked the pictures in his...girlfriends', house.

"Syaoran!" Sakura yelled from the kitchen and her boyfriend hurried over. Sakura was cutting the cake next to a teapot with steam coming out from the top. Empty cups were near it, and Syaoran knew exactly what to do.

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"Ah!" Sakura gasped as Syaoran smudged some frosting on her face, laughing. She returned back with a handful of cream and smeared it on his face as well, while he turned his head to protect himself, but eventually, she still got him on the eye.

The pizza was still warm, and they only ate about 4 slices. But it was the cake that got their full attention as they started to use the food to attack each other on the faces. The cake was barely eaten, except for the parts where the white frosting is missing that were replaced onto each other's features.

As they were having fun, Sakura's brother has reached the door of the house with his best friend. He heard the two people screeching inside the house...And that frightened him. Without thinking, Toya barged into the house with a loud bang...and a trip on the edge of the door frame...and the sound of glass breaking as he fell and hit a table where a vase was settled on. The two teenagers paused to look at his figure on the ground, both gaping.

"What the heck are you guys doing?!" The girl's brother jumped up and had reached them within a second. Sakura had covered her ears with her hands.

"What the heck are you doing home?" The girl stood up and retorted. Toya looked at her incredulously.

"Why didn't you look at the note on the whiteboard?" He yelled, and Sakura turned her head to look at the little board that was hanging 'innocently' on the wall next to her.

On it said: _Hey kaiju, Since tomorrow's my Thanksgiving break, I'm coming home today. I have to work first though and'll probably be back at around 6:30. Make some extra food incase Yuki is coming over, too._

Sakura didn't say a word, her face was flushed and her mouth was opened, hanging. Then she turned to look at her brother who gave her a _I told you_ look.

"Toya, no need to be that angry." Yuki said, his eyes looking apologetically towards Syaoran behind his glasses. Syaoran felt something, Sakura could tell by the look on his face.

"Oh! Yukito-san, you're here!" Sakura exclaimed and jumped over in front of him to block him from Syaoran's gaze. "I've made pizza! I can make more if you're hungry."

"You'd better." Toya mumbled, connecting his glare with Syaoran's cold one. Sweat-dropping, she pulled Syaoran from his seat and stuttered.

"Well, I'll be back right after I walk Syaoran to the door!" Sakura said and pulled the dark-haired boy with her to the door.

"Why are you pulling me away?" Syaoran asked once they reached the door. "I wanna show him some of my martial arts skills." He added half-heartedly.

"I don't want him to kill you!" Sakura said, Syaoran could tell by her eyes that she wasn't kidding. "He's like 5 year older than us and he's been learning karate since he was like 7! He has more experience that any of us!" Syaoran grunted.

"Next time, you're coming to my place!" He said, still glaring at Toya's direction in the house.

Sakura just smiled as Syaoran leaned against the gate of her house while she stood on the stairs so she was the same height as him; they both waited for one of them to talk. After a moment of awkward silence, Syaoran scratched his neck awkwardly and stood up. "Well, I'm gonna go now." He sighed. "See ya then."

Sakura glanced at him, not knowing if whether she should hug him, or walk him to his place, or...

Slowly, Sakura leaned forward, giving him a hint of what she was asking for. He realized what she was doing and grinned, leaning forward also. He placed a hand on her cheek gently, and felt the soft, heated up skin under his palm, enjoying the content blush of his girl_. His_ girl (smirk). Just when their lips are close enough to feel each others breaths...

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Toya bursted into flames inside the house as he saw them almost kiss each other through the kitchen window. Good thing Yuki was there to keep him back from running out of the house with burnt up hair.

Syaoran's head bolted up as he heard the elder boy's yell, his hand was hanging in midair next to Sakura's cheek and she was looking at the window in which her brother was looking through earlier. Her expression was half-way between exasperation and anger. Well actually, mostly despair...

"Toya! Calm down! She's fifteen!" She heard Yuki yell from inside the house, obviously struggling to keep her brother quiet.

"If you dare kiss her," Toya's voice rang, "I'm gonna tear you into pieces, brat!" Syaoran took his hand back and looked angry now. He could see the older boy's face through the glass.

Sakura held him back from bursting into the house and get into a fight with her brother. She's already in a lot of trouble from keeping that cardcaptor secret from her boyfriend, she doesn't want him to hate her more that he probably would.

"Syaoran, just ignore him." Sakura sighed and turned him so he was facing her, although he was still glaring at Toya's form.

After a minute or so, Yuki finally managed to pull her brother away from the window. Syaoran stepped away from the gate now and was really ready to leave.

"Well, I guess I'd better leave now before your brother freaks out again." Syaoran sighed and started walking away. Sakura stopped him before he made another step away.

"Syaoran!" She called out, and Syaoran slowly turned around and smiled at her, expecting her to call out for him.

"Yes?" He asked gently. She fidgetted.

"See you...tomorrow!" She asked, feeling stupid for asking such a stupid question that she thought in her stupid mind without stupidly thinking of what she was suppose to say first stupidly...Okay, you get the idea.

Syaoran looked at her quizzically before smiling and nodding, then he turned around again.

"Syaoran!" Sakura yelled again, watching him turn around again. "Uh, have a safe trip home!" Syaoran looked at her weirdly again.

"I will..." He said unsurely, also wanting to run over to her and take her into his arms...But he knew it wasn't the best idea. "Good night."

"Syaoran?" Sakura asked, this time, gently. He turned around again after sighing gently, expecting his girlfriend to say something to keep him from walking away...

Sakura couldn't hold it anymore. She crossed the distance between them and jumped into his arms right after he turned around. She planted a small kiss on his cheek (to Syaoran's disappointment) and jumped back, blushing fiercely.

"Bye!" She exclaimed and sprinted back to her house, leaving Syaoran standing there, dumfounded, redfaced, and...

Completely under the young girl's spell.

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_Well, waddya think? Another fluffy chapter...to bad they still haven't kissed. Oh well, please leave some reviews!!! :)_


	10. Taking action

_Hi everyone! For all the people who wants more action and magic in this story...this chapter will be it! There will be no romance in this chapter and probably won't be too fluffy for the next few chapters either, so I hope you guys'll be happy about that. :) Happy Holidays everyone!!!! :D_

** action**

Sakura had a hard time sleeping that night; her heart still hasn't stopped beating like fast drums, and her breath was both short and heavy. Why can't she get that amber-eyed boy out of her mind? After a decade of tossing and turning, she finally decided to sit up and stare into space...Then, she decided to look at the cards she's captured.

_Wonder if he's still looking for me. _ She thought, staring at her 'Jump' card. _He also has the 'Mirror' Card, I need that in order to change all the cards under my name. _She sighed. _But I don't wanna hurt him._ She set the cards down into their book and looked at Kero, who was sleeping peacefully in the little drawer of her table. Frowning, she looked at the red cover of the Clow book, feeling the golden lion that was carved on it as she studied the small form of Kero. _Wonder when Kero's gonna change to his real form. Will he ever change back?_

The sound of leaves rustling interrupted her from her thoughts. She set the book down into her drawer and stepped away from the table to stare out of the clean window. Something was in her gardens, and it didn't feel like human.

She spotted something–or someone–blue with speed as fast as lightning as it ran out from the bushes. By then, she was sure that it was a card.

Dressing up as fast as she could, she quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, also waking up Kero from his slumber. She crawled out from her window and took out the 'Fly' card, enchanting her staff into a long pink stick with gigantic feathered wings, and immediately jumped out from her window with Kero by her side.

"Are you sure it's a card?" Kero asked as Sakura looked hard to see the card, dashing to and fro. Although it seemed very fast, it didn't look like it had any super-human speed, it was more of Sakura's speed, very athletic.

"Yes, I'm sure." Sakura replied, almost yelling through the hard blowing of the wind on her face. "But I don't know what card it is."

"Where is it heading?" Kero yelled, and Sakura looked at her surroundings.

"We're almost at Penguin Park." She said, and gasped when the card disappeared from her sights. "Where did it go?"

She landed to the ground and changed her staff back into its original form, the 'Fly' card floated quietly into her hand and she put it into her pockets, looking around. She started walking towards the big landmark on Penguin Park; although, she never failed to be cautious. Just when she stepped onto the hard, smooth ground of the park, a figure ran across before her, and she gasped as she lost her balance and sat on the ground with an "Oomph".

"The 'Fight' card." She heard Kero murmur above her, his eyebrows knitted together in a worried way. "It challenges people with fighting skills and never gets tired no matter how many combats it has gone through." She looked in front of her where a girl wearing a strange, blue dress was standing in a fighting pose, obviously challenging Sakura to a duel. "You have to be careful of her, Sakura, you need to know where to limit your powers or else you'll get defeated."

Nodding, Sakura stood up, holding out the pink staff in front of her. She's learned karate for quiet a time, too, she can fight this card.

Once she got ready, she sprinted towards the card with lighting speed and tried to hit it with her staff; however, the card was good enough to dodge it. She then brought her fist down towards it as it held up an arm and blocked its' face, an emotionless pair of eyes stared at her with a white glow. Sakura pulled back and bent down, swinging one of her legs under the card and hit its legs, making it fall. At the same time, she stood up and brought her other leg down, and smiled with triumph as her heel hit the card right on the stomach as it gave out a pained grunt. As it laid there, holding its stomach, she brought her fist down again, and with her strongest power, attacked it right on the gut as the ground underneath them cracked with a sound.

"Alright, Sakura! Way to go!" Kero encouraged from the background as Sakura jumped back and returned to her fighting position, her staff still in her hands.

Almost immediately, the card stood up, all healed, and smiled at her without any emotion, Sakura knitted her eyebrows together in frustration. The card was much stronger than she thought. This time, it was the card who was going to make the first move. It ran towards her, fist up and all, and tried to hit her face. Sakura, as good as karate as she was, jumped to the side and brought her leg up to kick the card on the side of its face. She regained her posture as the card rubbed its face before making its move again. Sakura swung her staff before her when the card had approached her and was barely two feet away, but what surprised her was that the card caught her staff and pushed to the side, revealing an unguarded Sakura as she gets pulled along with her weapon, eventually getting punched on the gut. Being too concerned about her wound, the card took this chance and replayed what Sakura had done earlier; she brought her leg under the wounded girl and swung as Sakura landed on her back with the smiling card above her, its fist was right next to its face at it brought the hand down; Sakura moved her head from the side as the white fist landed next to her, making the ground crack.

"Careful, Sakura!" Kero yelled, feeling a bit worthless since he didn't have enough power to do anything.

Sakura was already feeling weak, but she still managed to get out from under the violent card and bring her leg up again. But this time, her strength wasn't enough, and the card caught her leg with one hand and through her up to the air as it jumped up over her back, and attack her spine as Sakura crashed to the ground with a yelp. She got up again, and dodged as the card came down as well with its fist right next to it. Sakura didn't know what to do, she was already hurt badly, and no matter what she does, the card will never be wounded.

Deciding that it would probably be better to use her magic, she took out the 'Wood' card, and tried to wound it around the card's body to capture it. The trees were apparently too soft since the card used one hand to break the wood in half. Sakura then took out the 'Windy' and informed it to change into a chain. It successfully chained one of the card's legs, but the card immediately twisted so the chain itself wounded around each other, breaking the connection.

"Sakura! Remember! The object is strongest at its weakest point!" Kero pointed out and Sakura looked at him quizzically.

"How is that suppose to help me?" She asked, the little form just shrugged.

"I don't know. I just thought that it would be helpful if I just talked!" A huge sweat-drop formed in Sakura's hair.

_Wait a minute! _She suddenly thought, an electricity-like shock ran through her brain. _An object is strongest at its weakest point...the weakest point must be something that attaches the card together!_

Taking out her 'Power' card, Sakura became extremely strong and stood in front of the card, almost 10 feet away and smirked, the card only stood its ground.

Within two seconds, the card finally made its move and ran towards Sakura. Sakura got ready, and she lifted her staff up and brought it down, right before it was close enough to punch her...

_WHAM!_

The card fell unconsciously to the ground as the tip of her staff came down upon the back of its neck.

"Hooray, Sakura!" Kero cheered from the side and fluttered around her head. "I knew you could do it!"

Sakura sealed the card and it changed itself back into a card as it floated into her hand. She looked at it and sighed, putting a hand on her forehead.

"Why didn't I think of using the 'Power' card before we fought? Then I wouldn't get hit so many times." She mumbled to herself quietly as she sobbed in frustration and despair. Kero only smiled.

"It's okay, Sakura, people make mistakes..."

"WELL, AT LEAST THE PEOPLE WHO MAKES THE MISTAKES DON'T GET PUNCHED IN THE GUT!" Sakura retorted and turned around, still crying, while Kero rubbed its ears and glared at her, mumbling,

"She didn't have to yell..."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile, in another place, Eriol was sitting on a red chair, seeing everything that had happened in Sakura's fight. An evil grin had replaced itself from the usual warm smile that he had always wore and his blue eyes glimmered, reflecting the light from which a ball was formed in front of him to show him what's happening at the girl's place. Suddenly, his gaze softened, and he used a long staff and made the ball disappear, everything around him became normal and time repeated its usual pace.

He stood up from his chair and walked to a nearby window, and glanced through the gigantic glass before him to stare at the falling leaves on the other side. His chest went up and down slowly, and his eyes searched for something; an answer that has troubled him ever since he knew that Sakura was a cardcaptor.

_Syaoran will be heartbroken._ He thought sadly. _Especially when he figures out that he'll have to take Sakura to his place and punish her. _A leaf on the other side fluttered to the ground. _I guess that needs to be a secret for now. I'll just let Sakura take the action._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Well...whaddya think? Good? Bad? Weird? Eh, everything that I write seems to be weird. ;) I hope you guys liked it, though, it only took me,like an hour to finish this chapter, I had so much fun writing it._

_The next chapter will be similar...with a little twist. But I probably won't be updating for a while 'cause my laptop broke and I can't go online, the laptop I'm using right now belongs to my school and I can't bring it home over winter vacation.*makes a face* But still, I promise I will update the next chapter as soon as possible, probably next week, so wait and review please! I hope you guys will still be reading when I get back!_

_Merry early Christmas everyone! :D_


	11. Divulged

_Hey guys! So in this chapter, it's a week after last chapter's event, I just don't want you guys to be confused. Sorry for not updating lately, but here comes the next chapter! Happy New Year!_

**11. Divulged**

Sakura collapsed on her bed and groaned; she covered her face with a pillow while Kero floated to her desk and sat down.

"Ah~ what a day." He sighed, lying down on the cool, hard wood. "You turned 5 cards in a week, Sakura! Keep it on!"

"Heh…But one of the cards made Tomoyo-chan loose her voice!" Sakura squealed under her pillow. "That's not a thing to be 'yaying' about!"

"Ah, the 'Voice' card." Kero said, nodding. "Not a really nice one."

"Talk about it." Sakura mumbled and stood up from her bed. "Kero-chan? What are the rest of the cards that I need to catch?" Kero blinked a couple of times.

"Hmm…Well, you've already caught 43…not including the 3 cards that the brat has caught-"

"Syaoran! It's Syaoran!" Sakura corrected, glaring at the little yellow bear.

Kero only continued. "So there's only 4 more cards left!"

Sakura almost jumped when the cell-phone in her pocket vibrated near her thigh. She pulled the pink object out and, without hesitate, answered it. "Hey, Syaoran!"

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked, although he didn't sound confused at all.

"I'm not answering that! So, wazzup?"

"Well, um, you know, there's a baking sale in the park, Meiling's bugging me to come, so I just came to ask you."

Sakura giggled. "Alright, I'll come. Pick me up?"

"Sure." Syaoran said, but paused for a second when Meiling hissed something in the back ground. "Meiling said she wants me to pick you up alone." Sakura heard a groan.

"Ok then, 10 minutes?"

"Sure." And the call ended.

The clanging of pots downstairs caught Sakura's attention with a snap, she immediately changed her staff and headed downstairs with a few cards in her hand. Another clang was heard, followed by two figures; one blue, one pink.

"The 'Twin'!" Kero exclaimed and paused in midair, Sakura just gaped at the two figures as they jumped around and threw her furniture on the floor.

"Hey! Not my pink pillow!" Sakura screamed and ran over to snatch the pillow from the card's grip. "My brother tried to use it to wipe his face, but I beat him with a board, and I don't wanna see you guys cry like him!" Kero sweatdropped.

"Sakura! Concentrate!"

Sakura looked at him with big eyes before nodding and starting to say sealing spell. The two cards finally brought their attention back to Sakura and jumped for her as she screeched and jumped to the side. They didn't look so happy.

"Fight them, Sakura, fight!" Kero encouraged in the background, while Sakura was already using her combat skills to defeat the pink twin.

"Can't you see that I'm a step ahead of you?" Sakura asked, blocking a hit with her arm.

She screamed as one of the cards ran to her living room while the card she was fighting continued to throw things on the ground. Sakura jumped for it, and it decided to head towards the living room to follow its twin as well. Kero was already there playing tug-a-war with the blue twin and Sakura screeched as the blanket they were pulling on ripped. Picking up a couch pillow, she threw it towards the pink twin with all her strength as it dodged and picked up a flower vase. Sakura screamed and ran over to pull the case from its hands. She screamed again when she felt a pillow hit her on the head. She waved her staff behind her incase the card was right behind her. "Okay, this is getting _really _annoying!" She said and the two twins paused to look at her for a second. But they resumed before shrugging and threw some pillows on the floor.

Sakura called for the 'Wind' card and it chained onto one of the two twins, but the chain popped immediately and she heard Kero's voice.

"Sakura! You need to catch the cards at the same time! It doesn't work if you just capture one twin when the other is still free! That's why it's the '_Twin_' card."

Groaning, Sakura called for the 'Wood' card as the two elements dashed to each of the colored twins. One jumped away, the other got caught but the card she used popped apart again.

"This isn't working!" Sakura said. "It's like the same thing with the 'Fight' card except that there are two of 'em!"

"I know, it's fun, right?" Kero said. Sakura glared at him.

The pink twin tossed the torn blanket on the ground when Sakura was jumping aside to get away from the blue twin; she stepped on it and almost lost her balance when the cloth got tangled around her feet. Sakura yelped when the blue twin jumped over and knocked her down and she closed her eyes as it came over and tried to punch her…

A small screech was heard and Sakura's eyes grew wide when she saw the card clutching its stomach in pain on the floor. Her eyes grew even wider when she saw a figure by the door.

_Syaoran._

"Sakura, watch out!" Kero yelled when the other twin jumped over to attack her; she hurriedly got up and used her staff to hit the twin in the gut. Syaoran jumped in with his sword by his side and came down to slash the card when it recovered from its pain. Both twins were defeated soon, and Sakura immediately turned them back to their original form.

Kero smiled and flew to the card that landed on the floor without going to anyone's hands. He sighed and grinned, and did everything that a happy person would do. "The twins have always been tricky, good for you, Sakura…" His voice trailed off when he saw Sakura's guilty form.

"Look, I can explain, Syaoran—"

"Don't." Syaoran said with a hand held up. Giving Sakura one last glare, he turned and got out from the house, slamming the door shut with such force that the house shook.

"Sakura…" Kero said gently, and Sakura covered her face with her hands and collapsed on the floor, sobbing.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_I know that was short chapter, I just wanted to finish this chapter as soon as possible and it turned out to be this short…but still, the plot's good enough, right? :/_

_Happy New Year everyone!!! And thank you all for reading! Please review!_


	12. A comfort

_Hi everyone! In this chapter, the story is based on Sakura's POV since it's basically just her and her thoughts. I'll try to make the chapter as long as I can, hopefully so I can make up for the last chapter. :) Please review!_

**12. A comfort**

I walked down the empty street, away from my house for some fresh air. Last night was the most horrible day of my life, who knew that Syaoran would actually see me as the cardcaptor? I mean, sure, I know he would figure it out some day, but not yesterday. No, I didn't know that it would be so soon.

I sighed and looked up at the sky, admiring its hidden beauty. It was dark, and stars were there, all shining dazzlingly and lighting up the sky, one by one. I wish I was one, I really do. Because if I were a star, I wouldn't have feelings, and I could just watch over everyone without feeling bad, because I'm alone, and I shine alone, too.

Why did I fall in love with him in the first place? He was a cardcaptor, and I knew. I also figured out that he could be a big threat to me since he's from the Li clan...They have way too much power, and who knows what the punishment and consequences are? Kero warned me, Yue did, too, then why didn't I listen to them? Why hadn't I ignored him and just keep his secret in the first place?

Oh, right, I have a heart.

Curse it.

I sighed and kicked a pebble with my boot, tucking my cold hands in my pockets. It was getting really cold since winter is on its way, the leaves on the trees already had turned brown and all fell from their branches. Now I wish I was a leaf, because all I had to do is be beautiful and die quickly. How easier could it get? But then again, I don't want to become ugly before I die.

But what am I talking about? I'm certainly not beautiful now.

At least, that's what Syaoran probably thinks.

I stopped at a tree and leaned against it, bringing my head down to stare at my unpolished shoes. I was at a park, the Penguin Park, where almost all of my memories gave birth and settled itself here. I remember walking home with Syaoran one time, and we stopped here, also playing on the swings near the slide. He pushed my off the swings once; apparently, he was pushing me too hard. I came back by pushing his figure near the slide; eventually letting him hit his head on the blue plastic. I laughed at him, and he started to chase me around the field next to this park, even the dogs that were walked around were scared by us.

I chuckled at that memory, we seemed so close back then. Sometimes I would see us together, walking, or in this instance, sitting on the swings and talking about everything. He told me a lot about his family, that he had 4 sisters and a mother; his father had passed away from a heart-attack when he was young. He knew martial arts very well, and is also quite good in sword fighting. I asked him to show me once at his house a few days ago, and he did; at the end, he picked me up in his arms since I was paralyzed by how brilliant he was. Then he tossed me onto the floor when I told him to drop me. I loved hearing him laugh, I really did.

"What are you doing out here in such a cold night?" I suddenly heard a male voice ask me. I jumped up, ready to kick that person's butt, but I ended up staring at a calm and smiling Eriol in his blue coat and black gloves. I immediately calmed down.

"Sorry, Eriol, thought you were some...bad man, or something." I said, embarrassed, and leaned back against the tree.

"No worries." He said, and came next to me to lean as well. "And could you answer my question?"

I kept staring at my feet and shrugged truthfully, I had no idea why I was out here either, I know I could've stayed home.

I felt Eriol's gaze leave my face and looked up to the sky. He was smiling, I could feel a lighthearted aura coming out from his body. "It's beautiful isn't it? The stars?" He murmured.

I looked up as well and sighed, staring at the shining balls of light again with a wanting expression. "Yeah." I replied, putting my whole heart into it. "I wish I was one."

"I don't think you would like that." I heard Eriol chuckle and I turned my head to look at him. "You see, even though the stars are beautiful, do you think that you would like to be, all alone, in the cold sky?"

"Well, I wouldn't be alone," I said, "there's plenty of other stars as well. And besides, it wouldn't be _that_ bad."

"I talked to Syaoran today." Eriol said, reflecting my previous thoughts. I didn't look up. "Somehow, he seemed much quieter, even though he has always been a quiet boy." I looked at him when he said "boy", wasn't he one, too? "I know something's wrong, but I don't know what. Do you?" He turned his face to me and smiled, waiting patiently.

I wanted to shrug and act like I don't know, but I guess that my eyes betrayed me, as I heard Eriol sigh. "You don't need to worry, I know that he has magic, and so do you." I looked up and stared at him, half shocked, half horrified. "And...I'm guessing that I should tell you that I'm the reincarnation of Clow Reed." That made my eyes go even wider.

"W-what?!" I yelped, standing up straight while Eriol just smiled gently. "You're Clow Reed? You're kidding me!" Eriol just shook his head.

Realizing that I have been too loud, I cleared my throat and sweat-dropped. He probably thinks that I'm a freak right now. I leaned back against the tree again, still staring at him, and continued, "You're really Clow Reed?"

"I still had some magic before I died," He replied, "and I split my soul in half. One half has all of my memories, the other is the rest of my magic, which isn't a lot, most of them was used on splitting it. I have the memories of my past, though_ I _don't have my magic. My magic, don't be shocked Sakura, is in your father's body, he's is the other part of my soul." I almost chocked when he said that.

"My father's...the other half of Clow Reed?" I asked.

"Yes." He said, still smiling. How come he's always smiling?!

"Wait, so, you don't have any magic?" I asked.

"Not much, though, I can see the future like I could before."

Huh? That's weird.

"How come your magic went into my dad's body?"

"He hasn't realized that he has magic yet, but when he does, it will be used so he can protect you. I saw you, before I died, in the future, and that you have set all the cards free." Come on, why hasn't he come earlier to stop me? "So now I can looked over you, doesn't matter if I have my magic or not." I frowned.

"How come you haven't come here earlier?" I asked, but I couldn't frown anymore when I saw him 'beam' at me.

"Then that will change the future. We can't decide futures, Sakura, it is all set for us." How come he sounds so mature?

Oh, right~he _is_ a man.

"So...you should know what happened to Syaoran." I whispered, immediately feeling guilty for bringing this up.

"Do I?" Eriol prodded, looking a bit concerned.

Just a _bit_.

"Tell me more about the Li clan, Eriol." I pleaded. "What will...happen?"

"The Li clan isn't as bad as you think it is, Sakura." Eriol said. "It _was_, as I saw before, the elders were very strict. They claimed the cards for a while, but I decided to remove them from their clan as a punishment for unacceptable behavior. They used to be extremely vain, thinking that they have all the power because of the cards, and all the leaders know how to use the cards, though most of them just uses them for selfish causes. After I have removed them to your father's basement, they seem to have quiet down, but they haven't had a leader for the past few generations because the leader needs to have the cards in order to rule. That's why Syaoran is here, to claim the cards, if he doesn't, it would usually be his family to punish you, not the clan." I winced. "But don't give up your cards, Sakura, they couldn't do anything to you, they're not as powerful, and I'm sure that Syaoran wouldn't turn you in."

"How do you know?" I asked quietly, a bit pissed of the way I'm acting. I must look very weak. "Syaoran probably hates me now because I didn't tell him who I was."

"He can still be the ruler, you know?" Eriol asked, though I felt something strange from the way he talks, he sounds a bit...amused. "But, there's a consequence."

"What?" I asked, a bit frightened.

"There's a huge possibility that you would become the cards' next mistress, Sakura. And if you don't want him to loose his position, you will need to marry him in order to help."

Wait, what? What did he just say?

"Could you repeat that, please?" I asked quietly, almost squeaking.

"I said you would need to marry him."

.............

WHAT?!

"HOE?!" I jumped, feeling my face heat up to its highest extent. "MARRY? WHAT?!"

"You asked me." Eriol said gently, smiling.

I heard dog bark at me at me across from the field. Apparently, I am _way _too loud.

"I'm not saying that you have to." Eriol said. "But, that's the bright side."

"Yeah, very bright." I asked sarcastically, "What kind of rule is that?"

Eriol just shrugged, looking innocent. "The rule?"

I collapsed against the tree with my jaws hung open and my eyes wide, then I scoffed a bit. "That's stupid." I mumbled.

But marrying Syaoran....that would be...nice.

Oh. My. God.

"Think about it, Sakura." Eriol said, straightening up. "I'm sure you two will be okay." His smile was the most reassuring thing that I knew, I could definitely trust him.

But could I trust...me?


	13. A note

Author's note:

Hi everyone! As you can see, I have changed this story's title from "A cardcaptor's life" to "How are we different", I just thought that the word "life" is really boring and it wouldn't be a very interesting title. The new title also reflects my summary, you know, how those two people are so similar. I don't want you to get confused just because of a title, but just so you know, I haven't and won't change the plot one bit.

Thank you everyone who has been reading! And _please_ leave reviews after you finish!!!


	14. Trapped

** 14. Trapped**

"Sakura-chan, watch out!" Tomoyo's voice was heard through the battlefield as Sakura flew with her staff, trying to dodge the "Arrow" card's hit. She was just at Tomoyo's house for a cooking project when she felt a card, and Tomoyo took this chance to dress the girl and film the whole thing down.

Sakura didn't want to sound mean but, today's probably not her day.

_Crap, this card's fast._ Sakura thought, yelping when a silver arrow almost hit her. _And how come it can shoot 5 arrows at once?!_

Sakura scoffed to herself. _Well duh, it's a card! _The other half of her brain reasoned.

An arrow came as fast as lightning and shot Sakura's green hat off. She turned her head to look at it but it had already disappeared from sight as she flew higher and faster. The arrows seem to follow her, because the card certainly isn't near her, but how come these last few cards are so powerful?

"This isn't going to get her anywhere," Kero said, his figure floating right next to Tomoyo's head, "she's too busy to attack back when she's dodging, she needs someone to help her."

"Should I call Li-kun?" Tomoyo asked suddenly and Kero turned to gape at her.

"What?! No! And why _would_ he anyway, I thought he hates her now!"

Tomoyo just frowned and shook her head, her eyes casted down. "I hope not."

Sakura's scream caught both people's attention and they focused on Sakura's flying form. She almost fell off the stick when an arrow grazed her sleeve and tore it opened. "Sorry, Tomoyo-chan!" They heard her scream over the field of noises.

After all the attempts that she had gone through to not fall off her 'broomstick', she still ended up loosing her balance on it and accidentally decided to slide off – and fall on her butt.

Yeah, really nice decision, isn't it?

Well, now that she's on the ground, why not try for some running? She sealed her "Fly" card and ran for her life, making sure that she doesn't get stabbed by a flying arrow that just happens to fly by. She has now flew and ran for a total of 30 minutes, her sleeves are torn, her hair's messed up, and she had sprained her ankle when she fell off the stick, along with a serious bruise that just happened to plant itself onto her butt.

Yeah, it really wasn't her day, was it?

Groaning in exasperation, she stopped running and took out her "Shield" card and saved herself from several arrows that flew towards her with a tremendous amount of speed. Sakura really hates this job now, she really does, and even though there's only 2 more cards left (not including this one) that she has to catch, it still feels like it will be like forever. If only Syaoran was here to help...

No, she can't think about him right now, she has broken both of their hearts already.

Calling out for the "Wind" card, she tried to make it go through the crowd of flying arrows and chain the "Arrow", but the wind was defeated when a few arrows flew through it and made the wind disappear like smoke. Sakura called for "Fire" and tried to burn all the arrows, including the card (well, it can't die) and defeat it. But the fire wasn't strong enough since she has already gotten really weak. She has used about 8 cards this evening, and she doesn't want to waste her powers anymore, she just feels like collapsing.

"Sakura, keep it up!" She suddenly heard Kero said and turned her head to meet his dotted eyes, apparently, he flew to her when she was using "Fire". "That thing's still not defeated!"

"I can't, Kero-chan, I'm too tired." Sakura said, her body had already collapsed to the ground and she was still protected by the "Shield" card, but it's starting to fade as well. "I've used too much magic today, I'm exhausted."

"Then you need to run, Sakura! The arrows are real, they could kill you!"

"I'm already dying, for heaven's sake!" Sakura screamed and the shield in front of her turned so weak, that it was almost transparent.

Right before Sakura had collapsed and Kero had rushed over, Tomoyo took out her cel and had dialed a number. She knew that she shouldn't, but she had to, and his house is somewhere near here...

The arrows paused for a brief moment of flying before it was set off again. Sakura gave out a last groan and her shield disappeared, the only thing protecting her was...

As you all could've guessed, our hero, Li Syaoran, arrived in his shining armor.

Well, it's not an armor, it's just a plain green sweatshirt and a pair of white sweatpants. But hey! That's not the main subject here!

"Brat?! What are _you_ doing here?!" Kero asked as Syaoran used his sword to block the arrows.

"First of all, I'm not the brat, you are." Syaoran grunted out. "Second of all, I felt the card and saw flashings here, so I decided to come at the end."

"Well, you've come really late, Sakura has already been fighting for half an hour–"

"And look at her now! She's exhausted!" Syaoran exclaimed, sounding a bit grumpy. With one last block, he disappeared from Kero's sight, and took Sakura's limp body along with him.

He ran, as fast as his feet would carry him, with Sakura, half-awake on his back. Because he had just came, he was much faster than Sakura was and the card lost track of them for a while. Taking this chance, he paused running and set Sakura down on the ground and leaned her against a tree, shaking her shoulders so she would wake up.

"Oi, Sakura, wake up." He said, as Sakura groaned and stared at him groggily. "The card's still out there, you gotta seal it."

Sakura was still half-asleep, her eyes were dull and was barely focusing. She forced her gaze up and stared at Syaoran's face, her eyes widened a little at the figure before her, but she immediately went back to her previous status with a small yawn.

"Oi, Sakura, are you listening?" Syaoran inquired, shaking her again.

"I'm up, I'm up." Sakura grumbled, waving her hand as if Syaoran was Kero, waking her up from her sleep in the morning. "What are we doing again?"

Syaoran groaned in exasperation and stood up, running a hand through his hair, he glanced behind him, eyes widening as he saw the card's figure appear above a tree, jumping over. "Sakura, wake up, the card's here–"

Before he could finish his sentence, an arrow flew over and stabbed into the wood over Sakura's head. She opened her eyes in surprise and finally woke up, but her legs were too tired to move as she wobbled when she tried to stand up.

Syaoran was too busy blocking arrows to help Sakura get up. She was still holding her staff, but her powers still haven't come back yet and she couldn't call out for her cards.

Syaoran was shocked when the arrows stop coming, and he stood there, waiting for some sign...

The ground underneath them suddenly rumbled and shook, a green wall suddenly ascended from the earth, tearing the green grass apart. Syaoran almost lost his balance when a wall appeared behind him, forgetting that Sakura was on the other side. When he did, she was already blocked, and panic struck him as tried to stab the wall with his sword.

"Syaoran!" He heard Sakura's voice yell over the high wall, fright drowned her senses as she struggled to get up on her feet. She dragged herself to the wall in front her and pushed her hands onto it, screaming Syaoran's name once again.

"Sakura, calm down, I'll get you right away!" Syaoran yelled back, panicking as more walls built themselves around him. He turned to the left around a corner, continuing down the lane to the sound of Sakura's voice. She felt tears prickling her eyes already, she hated being lost, especially when she's so weak and can barely do anything about it.

She tried to stand up, with her knees wobbling and her legs feeling like spaghetti. She heard Syaoran yell something, though she didn't know what. Finally able to get onto her feet successfully, she started to run, hands against the hard wall to make sure she doesn't fall. She ran towards Syaoran's voice, calling out his name once in a while to let him make sure that she's there. But her running came to a quick stop.

She was lost, and trapped, as two other walls built themselves around her.


	15. Tears of memories

_Gah! I'm sorry, haven't updated in a week! I'll try to make it up to you guys by writing a really long chapter today. Well, I'll try to make it as long as I can._

_Just as a reminder, I have made "Erase" into the most powerful card here, so please don't get it confused with "Void", because it has a very similar personality; but there is no such "Void" in this story._

Format:

"..." Character speaking

_Italics _Character thinking

**...** My/Author's comment. _Sorry about that, but I really wanna talk sometimes. :P_

**15. Tears of memories**

"What?! Sakura and that gaki are trapped?!" Toya yelled over the phone, startling poor Tomoyo on the other side. "You need Yue...Alright, we'll be there right away."

"Sakura and Li-san are trapped?" Yukito asked, standing up.

Toya nodded. "Yeah, apparently, a card called "Maze" trapped both people inside, Tomoyo and Kero doesn't know where they are. Seems like they need your help."

"The other me, of course," Yukito said, "I understand."

With that, both people left to save the two magicians.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Tomoyo!" Toya called out, as Tomoyo and Kero turned to meet a panting Toya and a worried Yukito coming there way. Eriol got there too, to everyone's surprise. "Where's the ca-" Tomoyo pointed to the green walls before he had finished his sentence. "Oh."

"I'l' change now." Yukito said, as a gigantic pair of feathered wings wrapped around him and revealed Yue, with his piercing silver eyes.

"Anything special?" He asked Kero.

"Nothing, except for the fact that they're inside and we can't hear them at all. Can you do anything?"

Yue looked at the maze and stared for a moment before flying up, forming a big bow in his hands. He pulled back his arms and released, and the arrow disappeared like a dewdrop as it hit against an invisible wall.

"It's blocked." He said, flying down. He spotted Eriol and knitted his eyebrows together, sensing a familiar aura around him. "And you are?"

Eriol smiled, his gaze melting into a familiar gaze. "Hello Yue." He replied, as Yue's eyes widened. Then to everyone else, "The maze is completely blocked from the outside, you need to be inside in order to destroy it. But any card's power won't work, it only works with magic other that the ones I've created. Syaoran is probably the only one who can destroy it now."

"But-but, he's already inside," Tomoyo said, "and I don't hear anything from him."

Eriol shrugged. "He probably hadn't reached to his full limit yet."

"Well, what are we doing? Let's go in and find them!" Kero said, and all of them entered the maze without hesitate.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sakura sighed and collapsed against the wall. Yelling isn't working, and screaming Syaoran's name wasn't working either, her throat was now completely dry. She looked up, surprised when she saw that the night sky was revealed. Moistening her mouth, she stood up, and pulled out her "Fly" card.

"Fly!" She screamed, and with all her force, she flew towards the sky, but groaned in frustration as the walls grew taller as well and surrounded her with its green walls. She landed hardly on the floor, legs wearing, and called back her card, at the same time, looking at her surroundings. She was outside of the box she was trapped in (to her biggest relief) but Syaoran was still nowhere in sight. Had he lost her? Or did he give up looking for her?

_Meanwhile_

"Sakura!" A brown-haired boy yelled out, searching frantically for any sign of Sakura. Where the heck was she? And why isn't she responding?

Syaoran paused at that thought. Had Sakura...

No, she's much stronger than that, especially at a time like this.

He looked around again and started pacing, not sure of which way to go. To his dismay, he is stuck in the middle of four paths; though which one he should choose would lead him to Sakura, he had no clue. The sound of footsteps startled him. Was it Sakura? No, it was more that just one person.

Wait, someone else is in this maze?

"Syaoran!" Eriol called out, and Syaoran turned in surprise as Tomoyo, Eriol, Toya and Yue gathered around him. Oh, wait, forgot one: Kero. He was so small that Syaoran barely saw him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Syaoran asked. "And...Yue? You're here, too?"

"I was in the form of Yukito, the gray-haired boy you saw last week at Sakura's house."

Syaoran gave him a look that was halfway between surprised and confused. Then he turned to Eriol. "How did you guys find me? This place is a complete mess!"

"We followed your sense!" Kero exclaimed. "You're aura was strong enough for me to smell, but Sakura's isn't. In fact, I can't feel any aura from her."

"I can't find her anywhere, either." Syaoran said. "I just heard her voice a while ago, now I can't hear anything!" He gave out a frustrated sigh. "Should I just seal the card and get this over with?"

"No! You can't seal the card without Sakura here first." Eriol exclaimed. "When you're sealing the card, you're taking away its magic weak which turns it back into its original form; but if you don't know where Sakura is, you'll probably seal her magic as well. Even though I'm not sure what will happen to her, it's still too dangerous."

"That's horrible..." Tomoyo said, but yelped when the ground underneath them shook and Eriol helped her regain her balance.

"Hurry, Syaoran!" Eriol yelled over the rumbling. "Use your sword and cut through the walls!"

"I already tried!" Syaoran yelled back.

"Well, try again! What are you, stupid, didn't you get what I meant in the first time?!" **wow, Eriol has that side of him. lol**

Ignoring the insult, Syaoran used the sword and slashed it against the green walls; although, it didn't really work since the open immediately sealed again after a second. Trying again, this time much harder, Syaoran brought down the sword with such force, that he felt like his arm was going to come off; but to his relief, the wall crumbled and collapsed, leaving them another free road that Syaoran had just made.

Immediately, everyone dashed for the new exit, sprinting back and forth to avoid new walls that was formed. To their (especially Eriol's) surprise, Syaoran had cut down all the walls that got in his way easily; though his panting was heard, even under the compression and noise of the walls, Eriol could still tell that Syaoran wasn't using much forcenergy He was getting powerful now, far from the reach of Eriol's earlier expectations.

_Meanwhile_

"What the heck?!" Sakura managed to scream out, her tired body immediately bolting up from the compulsion of the walls. She looked around as the ground underneath her moved up and down like a wave, making Sakura almost loose her balance. Yelping, she jumped aside, avoiding the green walls that emerged from the ground right under her feet. Everything was a mess, and the scene of the walls moving around and forming made Sakura extremely dizzy. But she's not that weak. No, she was never that weak. She was Kinomoto Sakura for heaven's sake! And even if she can't use her magic, she still had an invisible spell.

_I'm sure I'll be alright._

Straightening up, she started to stride, and her treading immediately broke into a run. She was determined to find Syaoran this time, even if it means that she might get lost in this maze forever, she still had to find him.

_I am not giving up. _Sakura thought. _I have to get out of here and seal this card._

Her eyes widened and she fell back when a gigantic green wall stopped her from her run. It seemed to be forming itself into a box to trap Sakura in it. Realizing that she really needed to use magic, she pulled out her "Sword" card and summoned for it, changing her staff into a blade.

She charged for it and slashed down, but only sparks of fire was the conclusion of her attempt. She tried again, eventually getting her skin scorched from the strong flare that jumped onto her hand. Sighing, she called back the "Sword", deciding that it was an extremely useless card.

Her eyes widened in surprise when the wall before her disintegrated into small green pieces and landed to the ground with dust blown up. She coughed a few times before settling her gaze onto an intense pair of amber-brown eyes, staring straight back at her. Her surprise immediately melted into gratitude as Syaoran stepped over and pulled her into a fierce hug. She had almost cried.

"Thank god, Syaoran, I thought I wouldn't find you!" Sakura whispered, hugging him back.

"Oi!"

"Me too. And why weren't you replying for the last few minutes?" Syaoran inquired.

"Hey, I'm talking here!"

"Sorry, I was too tired."

Shaking his head, Syaoran pulled away and looked at Sakura, his gaze burying deep into Sakura's pools. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from now on. Just...stop disappearing from my sight. K?"

Sakura just nodded, her eyes watering, and she was just about to give him a kiss...

"Oh, break it up already!" Toya yelled, obviously not pleased with their actions. He pulled on Sakura's arms and she tumbled back as Syaoran threw Toya an aggressive glare. Tomoyo was sort of pulling on Toya's arm to keep him from running to Syaoran and beating him up.

"Guys! We're in the middle of something!" Kero yelled, trying to calm everyone down and shut them up from their arguing. Apparently, it didn't work. "I said, GET BACK TO THE FREAKING WORK!!!"

Syaoran was the first to wake up from the startle of Kero's outburst. Without thinking, he took Sakura's arm and pulled her to him so he could speak clearer, Toya already started fuming.

"Sakura, seal it, now!"

Nodding, she pointed her staff to a wall and used the sealing spell. "Return to your true form, Clow Card!" Everything around them glowed brightly and started to shrink as the walls disappeared, and only the form of a small card was left in the air. The glowing stopped, and the "Maze" card flew into Syaoran's hands with a humming sound.

Sakura looked around, clearly glad of what she sees. Although the sky was extremely dark and the lights have turned off because of all the magic, no more strange aura was in the air. Well, barely anyway, until a silver arrow suddenly flew over and almost hit Sakura before Syaoran pushed her away.

"Oh, you're kidding me." Sakura said, and jumped away with Syaoran holding her hand. Although Sakura was still feeling weak, her body had recovered, but one use of magic could make her collapse easily. It was when Syaoran let go of her hand that she realized that she was already very close to the card, it's back was towards her as Syaoran jumped to its front.

Syaoran ran towards the card, sword in hand, and dodged a few arrows from the card's bow. He brought his sword down, and broke an arrow in half as the card gasped, and started to turn around, not noticing that Sakura was there. She brought her leg up and swung for the cards face, but it ducked under her leg and ran again. Knowing that Sakura was not going to give up again, she followed the card and punched it on the back, making it yelp and fall onto the ground with a clank from its bow.

"Return to your true form, Clow Card!" She yelled, and the card turned bright blue as it shrunk into a size of a paper and flew up. Syaoran ran over to Sakura's side, her head was tilting up to see where the card went.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Syaoran heard Kero yell as he flew towards the two with worried eyes.

"I'm fine." She replied, still looking up. "But where did the card go?"

"That card sure it annoying." Tomoyo chirped after she rushed over. Syaoran was extremely surprised that she was still holding onto her video camera. "Sakura, you sure you're fine?" Tomoyo added.

"I'm fine. I'm just confused of where the card went."

"Sakura!" Toya asked, coming from behind Tomoyo with Yue by his side. "Are you okay?"

"Gosh, I'M FREAKING FINE!" Sakura yelled, not looking at the sky anymore. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU GUYS ASKED THAT, ALREADY? LIKE, 10??!!"

The humming of the card caught Sakura's attention again as it floated down from the sky, stopping in the air between Sakura and Syaoran. The two looked at each other before Syaoran took the card and offered it to Sakura.

"You deserved it." He said smiling, and tucked the card into Sakura's hand when she was just about to argue.

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked, not putting the card into her pocket yet.  
Syaoran just shrugged casually, still smiling at her.

"Take it, Sakura, you worked on the card longer than he did." Kero spoke up, and flew to the card before taking it out of Sakura's hands and putting it into her pocket.

Just when they thought that everything was alright, a strange feeling struck Sakura and Syaoran again. The looked around, looking for any signs of paranormal activity. **Oh, have any of you heard of that movie?**

A scream was heard from Tomoyo's direction as they all turned to look at her, their eyes widening in surprise when one of her hands had disappeared completely. Sakura ran over to her and grabbed for the missing body part, but only air was above the arm. She yelped when Tomoyo's body started to turn transparent, her face barely seen; only the blue eyes were visible enough for Sakura to look into them.

"Tomoyo-chan." She whispered, fear creeping into her heart. She turned to Eriol. "What's happening?"

"It's the 'Erase' card." Eriol replied, his eye-brows knitted together in worry as he leaned towards Tomoyo. "It's one of the most powerful cards I have created."

"Why did you make that card?!" Kero in enquired his master, obviously not pleased.

"Can you blame me?!" Eriol asked, half yelling.

"Sakura-chan! You have to seal this card before we all disappear!" Tomoyo said, her form becoming weaker and weaker. "I'm counting on you!" Her last words were barely a whisper as Tomoyo faded away completely.

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura screamed out, tears forming in her eyes. "Tomoyo-chan, come back!"

"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled out, as Sakura turned to him before following his gaze and landing on her brother. Her eyes widened.

"No, not Toya, no!" Sakura said and reached for him, but he had already disappeared. "Eriol!"

"I'm sorry Sakura, but I can't help you with this one." Eriol said, his voice drowned in despair. "I didn't mean to make this card, and when I tried to get rid of it, it somehow wouldn't... But you can still seal it, Sakura, both of you have to." Everyone gasped as Eriol begins to disappear, too. "Remember, defend yourself! Don't let this card erase your memory first before taking you away!"

"We'll try." Syaoran said, Sakura was too fed up to speak. Syaoran saw a black form behind a tree, it was glowing, and he was pretty sure that it was the card. He grabbed Sakura's hand, and pulled her along with him. "Run, the card's gonna get us!"

Sakura let him pull her away and Kero and Yue followed. The white form held up his hand as it glowed, and bullets of ice dashed towards the black card out from his white light. The ice disappeared before it reached its destination.

Kero started spitting fire, accidentally burning down some trees in the forest and missing the foe. They ran through the woods, panting, and Yue flew up to guard them from above.

A black shadow blew towards the three forms and engulfed Kero's form. Sakura noticed and turned around, eyes widening in horror as Kero's form begins to fade away.

"Kero-chan!" She yelled, Syaoran held her back to keep her from running to the guardian.

"Sakura, run! Don't let the shadow get you!" Kero managed to yell out, before his figure died away completely.

"I don't understand, Kero has magic, why did he fade away so fast?" Sakura asked, turning to Syaoran.

"I don't really know either, but I'm pretty sure it depends on how powerful that person is. Ceberus still doesn't have his true form so he isn't as powerful as any of us, I'm sure Yue–" Syaoran paused for a moment as his eyes widened, staring over Sakura's head. "Yeah, he's not powerful enough, either. Run!" He pulled Sakura with him again before she could even turn around look.

She screamed when a strong force pushed onto the both of them and the two fell forward, loosing their balance. Sakura called out for the shield card and it saved them for the first second strike, but on the third one, the shield broke.

"What the heck?!" Sakura yelled, and Syaoran grunted after pulling out a yellow piece of paper from his pocket.

"Lei Dian Lai Ling!" He chanted in Chinese, and a jolt of lightning sprinted to the card as it yelped in surprise.

Sakura could barely see anything in the dark, she could only make out the form of a dark shadow in a dotted robe **sorry, forgot what the card looked like**, she gave out a grunt of anger.

"Firey!" She called out, and a flare of fire blew itself towards the shadow. The fire disappeared, and another force of dark air pushed Sakura and Syaoran back onto the ground.

"Oh no," Sakura said, holding her head with one hand, "I forgot how old I am!"

"What the heck, where did I come from?" Syaoran asked, doing the same thing with Sakura. He looked up suddenly and jumped, pulling Sakura with him again, avoiding a hit from the card.

"Shield!" Sakura called out again for Syaoran, running at the same time, the shield should be able to hold on for a while.

"Sakura, watch out!" He called out, and pushed Sakura aside as a gigantic black wave came upon him and Syaoran flew backwards for about 10 feet. Sakura screamed.

"Syaoran!" Sakura yelled, she got up, but before she could move, another wave came her way. "Shield!" She called out, and sprinted towards Syaoran who was laying on the ground.

"Syaoran! Syaoran, are you okay?" She called out, shaking his shoulders. Syaoran groaned and rolled to his front to face her, his gaze was unfocused and troubled.

"Sakura, you need to run." He groaned out, holding the back of his head. "I think I hit my head somewhere."

Another blow gusted towards them, but Sakura's shield protected them this time; although, the shield was beginning to fall apart again.

"You haven't much time, Sakura, run already!" Syaoran yelled, getting impatient and pushing Sakura away when she was trying to help him up.

"You think I'm stupid or something?!" Sakura yelled, and pulled on his arm in attempt to pull him up. "I'm not gonna go without you!"

"Sakura! I already forgot everything before I was 10 years old! What's the point of saving me when I already forgot everything?"

"Well then, run before you completely forget!" Sakura yelled, finally getting Syaoran off the ground. Another blow of shadow broke the shield and it shattered into pieces before forming back into the shape of a card. The two ran again, but was stopped after about 30 seconds when Sakura tripped, and the gust of power made her forget where she was.

"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled, still holding her hand; but when he tried to haul her up, he was pushed down again; surprised when a bolt of pain shot through him like a knife driven through flesh. He groaned in pain as his brain felt like falling out of his skull.

Sakura felt like she was suffocated; a strong pressure was pushing against her chest, making her choke as she squeeze Syaoran's hand with pain. She lifted her head to see the card, its black figure inching closer and closer to their bodies. She tried to get up when a something painful struck her: she had forgotten about her family, everyone, and Sakura's eyes begin to water as she struggled to remember.

"Sakura, you okay?" Syaoran managed to speak out, his muscles aching with pain. Sakura nodded, and sniffed as a small tear trickled down her cheek. She was getting frustrated now, and all she wanted to do was run over and rip the card in pieces.

Well, after she has sealed it.

"I want my friends back." The card said, as it floated towards them quietly. "I want all my friends back."

Sakura's heart ached when a few of her cards in her pockets flew out and glided to the "Erase" and disappeared. "No!" She yelled out, her hand shot in front of her as she tried to reach for her possessions. Syaoran was shocked too when his cards flew out as well, but he didn't struggle, mostly because his body still stung like hell.

"Sakura, run." He said simply, and with all his strength, he pushed Sakura up from the ground as she looked at him, unsatisfied.

"Are you serious?" She asked, her voice low and dark for the first time. "You really think I'm stupid?"

"Sakura, just listen to me!" Syaoran said, standing up and whimpering as his legs ached with his action. "If you don't run now, you'll never be able to seal the card. Do you want everybody to disappear?!" Sakura whimpered too, but not because of any physical pain.

"But...you–"

"Sakura, it's not time to think about me right now; just go!" Syaoran said, pushing her again. "Go!"

Sakura didn't want to leave, but Syaoran was right, if she didn't go now, she'll disappear, too. Syaoran was hurting too much, if he runs along it'll be too much torture for the both of them.

"I said I want my friends back!" The card yelled again, as black bubbles appeared and surrounded Syaoran, trapping him inside as he yelled in pain, holding his head.

_The card's erasing my memories. _Syaoran thought, groaning as he felt his brain being sucked out. _God, I wish it could just erase me already!_

"Syaoran!" Sakura called out, reaching towards him. But before she could take another step, Syaoran stopped her.

"Don't, Sakura! Don't come any closer!"

"Please don't leave me alone." Sakura sobbed, tears streaming down her face. "Please, Syaoran, I need your help."

"I'm sorry, Sakura." He said simply, smiling a bit. "I love you."

With that, the dark bubble exploded, sending Sakura to the air as she flew back; a hard blow of pain shocked her as she hit her back against a tree. She yelled again in pain as another hard blow blasted against her, cutting the oxygen that she needed completely. She felt her heart pump loudly in her ears with an unspeakable pain rubbing against her brain, making her feel like it was 100 times heavier. She looked up with watered eyes as another blow hit her, making her choke and moan.

She opened her eyes a bit, ignoring the stinging pain that was stabbing against her heart, and looked at the sky. Stars were the first things she set eyes on, as her memories got erased, one by one. Although she could barely remember anything, she still smiled, tears never stop falling from her eyes. She looked down again, seeing her hand disappear and her features fading, though no confusion has crept inside her mind. She smiled again, and let the last tear fall down her cheek.

_I love you too, Syaoran._

And that was the last thing she thought before everything exploded.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Ta-da! There you go, one of the longest chapter I have ever written. ^ ^ So, whaddya think? Liked it? Hated it? I know that it was a cliff-hanger, but it didn't turn out as sad as I thought it would be, I'm not exactly a really sad-story type of writer. lol_

_Hoped you guys enjoyed it!!! Please review!!!_


	16. The Hope card

_Oh my gosh, I'm sorry guys, there's 52 Clow cards in total, not 50. I'm sorry, that was a mistake. Good thing it's not something huge. Haha._

_Don't hate me._

_Anyway, continue._

**16. The Hope Card**

Sakura grunted in discomfort; she twitched around like there were ants crawling on her body, only in this case, it was pain. She opened her eyes, only to get blinded by light, and she shielded them with her arm, as her vision slowly became normal. She looked around, confused at first, but something suddenly struck her: Syaoran.

She tried to stand up, but the numbness still hasn't gone away from her legs. She looked around again, but this time, more focused. Above her was a sakura tree, with pink petals floating about in the air around her, surrounding her with a light scent; waking her up from her pain. But even though the physical pain was gone, there's still another in her heart. Is she dead? Is this heaven? And what's going to happen here?

As her mind raced through all the depressed thoughts of her death, the comforting light suddenly disappeared, as darkness slowly enveloped her, coating her with black silk as the shadows above her darkened. She was suddenly sent to another dimension, an eery moan sang in the air around her like a haunting ghost. Sakura was surprised, not to mention that she was completely terrified as well. A lump formed inside her throat as she watched dark trees build around her, trapping her in woods. Gulping, she took a step forward as the darkness continued to glaze her with its stinging gloom, giving her a more eery impression that she ever had experienced before.

A branch snapped, and Sakura whirled around, feeling a movement near her. Another moan was heard as wind blew against the trees with a frightening sound. Eyes widening, Sakura saw a black figure, hovering over the ground near her. It was wearing a black robe, face hidden, and it gave out another moan as a hint of showing that it sees her. It floated towards her, slowly, as she continued to stare at it with horror. It was until it stopped 5 feet away from her that Sakura realized what it was. Whimpering, she took a step back, shaking her head as she did so.

"No, no, please no."

The figure wailed in response.

"Please, I want to see my friends."

No response.

"Please, take me back to where I was!"

Screaming, the figure launched towards her, holding its bony fingers out in attempt to grab her by the shoulders. Sakura jumped back and turned around, trying to escape from her predator. She ran through the woods, panting, the dark, bare branches grazed her skin painfully as she pushed them away. She had no idea where she was going, and she could barely see; the only light that showed her the way was the gloomy moon, hanging above her in the dark sky. She was scared, not to mention tired. Her breath was short, and she could barely breathe; she needs to stop and take a rest, but she couldn't. The enemy is coming closer, and she needs to live.

She suddenly came to a halt when the trees vanished, the moaning sound also disappeared, though light was still not revealing itself. She finally stopped, still panting, and placed her hands on her knees.

"Sakura." A deep voice murmured through the darkness. Sakura looked up at that familiar voice.

"Sakura, come here." It called out again.

Sakura straightened up and walked forward, following the voice, completely unaware. A masculine form slowly revealed in front of her, a sword in his hand; his messy hair ruffling itself against the slight wind, showing off his good looks in the dark district.

"Syaoran?" Sakura asked quietly, taking another step towards him. He made no movement.

Sakura walked cautiously towards him, making sure that she doesn't trip in the darkness. She reached out a hand, ready to launch into his arms, but a swirl of dark wind surrounded her, making her gasp and yell as Syaoran's figure faded away. A scene of red replaced what was there before, and Sakura almost screamed when she saw the bodies of her family and friends, lying unconsciously on the ground.

Sakura's eyes widened and watered, and she ran towards them. There wasn't blood, to Sakura's relief, but they weren't breathing either. They were all colorless, and were lying there without motion. There was one certain figure that caught her attention. Next to a tall tree laid Syaoran; he was on his back, but there was also a bit of blood on his forehead that was smudged out from his ears. Although Sakura stood about 20 feet away from him, she still saw the red liquid on his face; hot tears gathered up in her eyes, and she ran towards him, shaking her head in attempt to get rid of the scared and dejected feeling.

"No, no, please," she whimpered, "not Syaoran, please not Syaoran."

She fell next to him and took his head in her arms. The blood was fresh, and there wasn't a lot, but the site of the plasma made her go dizzy and uncontrollably miserable. Tears poured down her cheeks as she heard her heart shatter into pieces; the pieces were like glass, cutting on her flesh and bones, making her ache and hard to breathe. Her hand shook as she traced his face with her fingers, wiping some of the blood away; though her foggy sight made it almost impossible for her to see where she was touching.

"Syaoran..." Sakura murmured as she held him up to her face, kissing his hair softly as more tears trickled down her face. She never got to tell him, she never actually told him what she felt, especially her feelings for him in the past few days. He did, but that was right after he was torn away from her heart by the card, leaving her standing there, crying her heart out. Why does death have to be so painful? She thought that people wouldn't feel anything after they had died, then why does she still feel the pain?

Not wanting to believe all of this, she shook her head and held him tight...

"I love you, Syaoran."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sakura's eyes shot opened as she adjusted her eye sight so she could see in the pink light. It surrounded her with warmth, and she slowly sat up to look at her surroundings. The cards were around her, protecting her as if they were a thick shield, and she looked up to meet the cold gaze of the "Erase" card.

Confused, she looked around again, not seeing any sign of her friends. She was back, and that was all a dream. But she considerably wished that Syaoran wasn't in that form. She stood up slowly, her staff still in her hand, and looked at the card with her head held high.

_ I'm sure I'll be alright._

"You took away my friends again." The card said, its voice barely visible.

"I never took away your friends." Sakura called out. "You never joined them."

"I was never welcomed!" It yelled back, its voice cracked as if it was sobbing. "I was always the outcast because I've been created as a very dangerous card...No one wanted me."

Sakura held her breath calmly, not wanting to burst with anger and make the card mad again. "We welcome you." She said simply, and the card looked up at her with its grey-ish eyes. "But you can't force someone to do what they don't wanna do."

The card looked sad for a moment, then its gaze immediately turned cold after a second. "You can't tell me what to do either." It said. "Only my master can!" With that, it threw its hand across from its body, and Sakura gasped as she saw another gust of dark wind come towards her.

She called for the "Jump" card and avoided the attack, but another came, and she called out the "Shield", protecting herself again. Realizing that the "Jump" was probably a bad idea, she called for the "Fly" and a pair of feathered wings appeared on her back.

_The card still extremely strong. _Sakura thought. _I can't believe that Clow would make such a card._

She screamed when a gust blew her and knocked her into a nearby tree; though she was glad that she didn't forget anything this time.

"Where are my friends?!" She yelled out, and the card paused for a moment, just long enough for it to answer her question.

"I took them away."

"Bring them back!"

"You can't order me!"

Sakura suddenly scoffed. "Who cares?" She stuck her tongue out as well.

The card didn't move for a moment, and Sakura thought that it had gotten angry, but instead it murmured, "What the heck?!"

Sakura jumped up when a wind came to hit her. She landed on a branch.

"Where's Syaoran?"

The card looked at her again, not answering for the first few seconds. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I want him back."

A pause.

Another pause.

Sakura's annoyed now.

"He's dead."

Pause...

And Sakura's eyes widened in horror as a huge lump formed in her throat, making her stomach ache.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

The card expected her to cry like a baby after that, but was extremely surprised when Sakura fumed.

"You, loathsome–"

Before she finished her sentence, a blow of hot fire came towards the card, 3 time stronger than it was before. The card's eyes widened and it saved itself by erasing the fire, but screaming when a gush of hard wind blew on it and pushed it back to it fell on its back.

Sakura suddenly appeared above it like a flash. She punched it in the face, leaving a dark black mark instead of a bright red one. She gave another punch on the gut, making it choke and cough. Calling for the "Power", her fist became bright pink, and it came down––

"Return to your true form, Clow Card!" She yelled, and the "Erase" glowed a silver color as it disappeared and was replaced by a small card. Sakura took it immediately, but not happily.

There was silence, and more silence as Sakura stood with her head bent down; her eyes were shadowed by her bangs as the soft wind blew on her back and her hair, making the auburn silk float around her swiftly. 10 long minutes passed, and a small drop of tear fell out of her eyes.

"Syaoran..." Sakura whispered, her emerald orbs misted with hot tears again as they uncontrollably rolled down her cheeks, breaking as the diamonds shattered on the ground. "He can't be dead."

More silence passed by...

A large, shining drop fell down, and shattered. But this time, no silence came, as a pink glow surrounded her again. She gasped and looked up, wiping her tears a bit with her hand. Star-like stripes swirled around her before forming into a shape in front of her. It glowed a bright, cheerful color, and Sakura took it in her hand.

The light faded away, leaving a glowing card in her hand. After a few moments, it stopped glowing, and a heart was seen in the middle with wings around it as a shelter.

Sakura stared at it for a while. Then she smiled and took her staff...

"Hope!"

And Syaoran appeared in front of her after a glow.


	17. Epilogue: The resolution

**17. The Resolution**

3 days later after Sakura had defeated the "Erase" card, everything had become normal again. The town slowly recovered from the places that were abolished and Sakura's friends all appeared again in their houses, not remembering what had happened in the previous days. Syaoran slowly recovered from the bruises he had gotten earlier, and Sakura was doing the same. The cards were all changed under her name with peace–minus the fact that Sakura had been shooting death glares at the "Erase" card the whole time–and now there wasn't anymore problems.

Well, almost.

Syaoran sat on his bed, phone in hand, his cool dark eyes were casted down with a glint of despair in his stare. He knew this would happen sooner or later, but he still couldn't help but feel guilty, sad, since that's what the feeling is for being away from someone you love.

He didn't want to leave Sakura, even though he had to. The Elders were already being very kind for not ordering him to bring Sakura to Hong Kong, to the Li Clan and accept punishment; but everything has its cons, and this one was really hard for Syaoran to accept. He had to tell Sakura, that he has to leave, and maybe after a few years for not seeing each other, she would forget him, and move on, since he was not allowed to come back anymore if he had failed to capture the cards.

Slowly, he dialed Sakura's number, and told her to meet him at Penguin Park in 20 minutes. She said yes, but hesitating, since she heard sadness in his voice. How can she be happy when he's not?

The call ended, and Sakura retrieved her phone slowly to her pocket. She got up, said goodbye to Kero, as he looked at her warily, reading her mind. Syaoran had made a decision.

Winter had come, and snow was slowly falling down from the sky. Sakura didn't have the heart to enjoy it, as she walked down the street in silence, as snow covered her hair and stained it with white, making it look like she was wearing a thin shawl. She walked as slowly as possible, she didn't want to hear his decision. She knew he had no choice to leave, and even though she is very thankful for the Elders, deep down, only layers of anguish could be found, and it was coating her heart and weighing it down with dark sadness. She suddenly stopped and looked up, sensing Syaoran's aura. She was there, much to her misery, but she had to be strong and prove to Syaoran that she would be okay. He would come back, right? The Elders wouldn't be heartless enough to forbid him for coming back...right?

Slowly, Sakura approached him, as he continued to lean against the big Penguin, his hands in his pockets, and a green scarf protecting his face and neck from the cold, and his dark eyes continued to stare at the white ground.

"Syaoran?" She asked softly, her first response was a pause of silence.

"My mother called." His voice finally spoke up. "She said that the Elders give up the cards, they won't bother you again."

"Oh." Sakura said, her eyebrows uncontrollably knitted together.

A pause.

"It's strange," Syaoran said, smiling slightly, "how a person can change in just a couple of months. Especially when that person was so selfish at first." Sakura looked at his eyes, which were now lifted up to the sky. "I've learned so much after I came here, and I've changed so much that even _I_'m surprised." A sigh. "This place is much better than where I had come from before, because all I was ordered to do is train for the position, to be the leader of the Li Clan. When I came here, I actually had a lot of fun, even though I've still been fighting a lot." His voice trailed off as Sakura continued to stare at him, her eyes watering. It's near now. So, so close...

The snow continued to float down peacefully, sending the two in a beautiful yet sad dimension. Their hair is now completely soaked, but neither minded, especially Sakura, since the cold water blended in with her tears that slowly trickled down her cheeks.

"I'm leaving, Sakura. Permanently."

Sakura almost collapsed when he said those words. She heard something shatter within her, and it all landed around her feet, scattering around, never able to be picked up together again. The small drops of tears immediately turned into a stream, and she sobbed and let them fall, her eyes leaving Syaoran's face. Probably forever.

Syaoran heard her cry, and he couldn't help but let his heart shatter as well. He forced himself to not cry, even though that it was almost impossible. His breath shook as he inhaled, trying to look away from her tears. Coldness is the best way to keep him from running to her, and he wouldn't be able to control his feelings anymore. Staying away from her is the best idea for him, because he knew he had to go back, he was not allowed to stay, even though his soul denied it. His true feelings were all caged inside an ice block, and it pounded against it so hard, that Syaoran had to use some magic to hold him up. Sakura in her case didn't bother to hold herself up anymore, as she fell sideways and landed on the plastic Penguin, her face was covered by her hands. Her fingers weren't strong enough to cup all the tears, and Syaoran felt a strong urge to help her brush them away. His heart and throat ached as she continued to sob, and he swallowed hard to erase the huge lump that formed in his throat.

"We have no choice, Sakura." He said, his voice showered her with adoration. "I was never allowed to stay here in the first place, I had no power to choose."

"I know that." Sakura said, her voice barely heard. She stopped some sobs before continuing again. "But...can't you just, explain–?"

"No, Sakura, I can't." Syaoran replied, sighing. He finally walked over to her calmly, even though his insides were ordering him to run to her take her in his arms. He took one of her hands and pulled it away from her face. He tried to look into her eyes. "You really shouldn't cry, it can't do anything in this situation." He paused when she heard her sob again.

Slowly, Sakura lifted her eyes to meet Syaoran's. He was smiling softly at her, but she couldn't smile back. "Can't you at least come back and visit?"

Syaoran chuckled, but it wasn't a happy one. He shook his head. "No, Sakura. I really can't do anything this time. So just promise me," he took both of her hands. "promise me that you'll forget me, even if you have to use the "Erase" card–"

"No, not the "Erase" card!" Sakura yelled, dropped her hand from her face. She immediately turned quiet again. "I don't want to–"

"I know you don't." Syaoran said, taking both her her hands in his. He finally pulled her to him, smiling sadly in her wet hair as she continued to cry again. God, why can't she stop?! She's already sad enough!

"Promise me you'll come back, Syaoran." Sakura begged. "Just promise, please."

A lump immediately formed in his throat as he buried his face in her hair. He loved her, they both know it, and he can never deny it. Hearing her beg him was almost completely impossible to say no; he wanted to so badly...but...

Sighing, he pulled her closer to him, not wanting to let go. After a few moments of silence... "I promise, I'll find a way."

Chocking in her own tears, Sakura finally smiled, and she lifted her head up to meet Syaoran's gaze. Slowly, she lifted herself up to her tiptoes, and pressed her lips softly on his.

The snow continued to fall from the sky, and the two lovers stood in each others arms, as winter continued to envelope them with its light breeze, burying them in their white flakes.

* * *

_3 years later..._

"Sakura! Where is your kimono?!" Toya yelled as he fumbled through the washing machine to look for Sakura's light pink Japanese robe. It'll be a new year in an hour, and all Toya wanted to do was get dressed and get to the festival before they light the fireworks. "Please don't tell me that you can't find it. Why do you keep on loosing things?!"

"I didn't _loose_ it!" Sakura's voice came from upstairs, a thump was heard after it.

"Well, okay, what did you do to it then?"

A pause. Then a slight grimace.

"I _lost _it?"

Toya sweat-dropped.

Yukito chuckled as he saw his best-friend's expression, he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Toya, she'll find it."

"Sakura-chaaan!!!" Tomoyo suddenly stormed in, holding a pink piece of fabric in her arm and a plastic bag in her other. "Try on this kimono that I finished in the last second!"

Sakura immediately bolted down the stairs and gave her best-friend a hug, taking the kimono along with her as she pulled back. "Thank you, Tomoyo-chan, you're a life saver!" Smiling, she pulled the dark-haired girl upstairs as they went to her room to change.

"Well, that solves things." Yukito said, smiling his usual grin as Toya rubbed his forehead. Sakura is almost 18 years old, and what else could go worse than having an 18 year-old sister who is still so graceless? Well, Sakura is always full of grace...but you know what I mean.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sakura was blushing the whole way there as Tomoyo followed her with a video-camera in her hands. Eriol was next to her, smiling at Sakura as she tried to avoid looks from her best-friend.

She wore a peach-pink kimono, with a green obi around her waist. Her hair was now cut to her shoulders as they hung softy against the pink cloth, swaying slightly as the silky strands of locks moved against the wind. Tomoyo also added a sakura-clip in her air, making Sakura look as if she was 15, even though she was 3 years older. Sakura changed quite a lot over the last few years. Her eyes had a more wiser glint, and her lips have gotten fuller; her body had advanced into a typical model's figure, with all the right curves, and she has matured greatly, changing from her cute, petite form into a classical beautiful woman. The usual shy and curious personality have almost gone away, and was replaced by a more out-going yet quiet character. She's a woman now, and like her mother, she is now a professional model, thanks to her dad who had talked the teen magazine into accepting her, which they did, since they knew Sakura's mother quite well. No one could be more proud than Tomoyo, since her part-time job was also to help Sakura's magazine company take photographs of her.

Tomoyo hadn't changed much, she had always been very mature for her age. She will be continuing to handle her mother's company, being her assistant first, and later on inheriting all the fortune. To Sakura's surprise–and happiness–Tomoyo is now going out with Eriol, as he showed quite an amount of fondness towards her, much more than of a normal friend or even a sibling could. Her purple uniform made her look breath-taking, and her long, dark hair were tied into braids as they were set on both sides of her head.

The New Year couldn't get any better, if only some certain person was there...

The Elders finally gave Syaoran permission to call Sakura occasionally a year later, seeing his misery after two continuous months of trying to persuade them into permitting him to be with Sakura. He wasn't allowed to call often, but it was enough for him to show Sakura his affections over the phone.

Sakura made a wish. Just a single wish that would make everything okay if it was granted. She looked towards the clock and frowned slightly when it read 11:58. Two more minutes, but she might never know if her wish would become true.

The light snow glimmered under the moon, and Sakura shivered when a cool breeze blew against her. It wasn't so cold, but the emptiness she felt inside made her feel physically chilly.

Toya walked over to her quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder, not looking too happy. "You know, I never knew I would see the day where you would actually be old enough to date a right guy. Actually, I don't think I'd really see you grow up to be old enough!"

Sakura stared at him, a bit confused on his use of words. What?! Smiling sarcastically, she turned and placed her own hand on his shoulder. "Look, Toya, I'm only saying this because I care about you: go see your doctor!"

Toya swept her hand away and stared at her, finally looking serious. He pointed a finger over his shoulder, gesturing for Sakura to turn around, and when she did, he couldn't help but smile fondly when she gasped.

Walking away, he left Sakura with the boy. He had grown taller, but his figure is still lean. His dark, messy hair blew against the light wind, as his masculine form made Sakura blush when he winked at her, giving her a kind smile at the same time.

The young girl felt as if they were the only people in the world as she continued to stare at him, his dark smiling eyes pierced through her own as he took a step towards her, holding out a bouquet of red roses in one hand, and a red box in the other.

"Syaoran..." Sakura murmured, eyes widening when she spotted the small red box in his right hand.

The lights suddenly darkened around them as everyone started chanting, counting down, starting from 10. Syaoran knelt down in one knee, handing Sakura the flowers as he opened the box. Sakura caught a glimpse of a shining clear diamond before her vision blurred, her hand unconsciously went up to cover her mouth as to stop herself from screaming and crying out loud.

"Sakura Kinomoto,"

"10!"

"I know this took me a while,"

"9!"

"but, I just want you to know,"

"8!"

"that I've loved you since the very beginning, and I'm willing to spend the rest of my life with you."

"5!"

"So, please, answer me:"

"4!"

An inhale. "Will you marry me?"

"3!"

"2!"

Sakura smiled, lowering her hand to show her lover her greatest smile. Nodding, she said,

"1!"

"Yes."

And fireworks lighted up in the sky.

Syaoran stood up as he slid the ring on Sakura's finger. Screaming with happiness, she jumped towards him, as their lips met half-way, spilling each other's affections in the kiss.

An applause was heard when the two pulled apart, and Sakura sobbed happily as she looked up to see bright pink words light up the sky.

"I love you, Sakura Kinomoto!"

"You know, you are much different than I thought you would be, Syaoran." Sakura said, smiling as she rested her head on Syaoran's shoulder. "I never knew that you would be that romantic."

"But seriously, Sakura," Syaoran said, pulling her towards him as his hands rested tightly on her waist, "how are we really different?"

And the answer was sealed by a passionate kiss.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Woot! Woot! It's finally finished!!! Woot!!!!!! Wait, I don't know if I should actually be happy or not..._

_Anyway, thank you all for reading this story, I had a LOT of fun writing it. I just made a poll on my profile page, and I don't know if I should write a sequel or not. So PLEASE GO AND VOTE!!!! NOW!!! Since I also don't know what to write after this._

_Thank you everyone!! _**kisses**_ PLEASE REVIEW!!!! I'M DYING TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!!!!!_

_No, I really am. ;P_


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